Shadow Puppets
by Rosaleen68
Summary: A tale of magic and vengeance. And puppets. Babe. Contains adult and fantasy themes.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing__._

_Thanks to Abbi for letting me take her one liner and run with it, and to Mud, Dove, Harmne and Dee for all the help. You guys are the best._

Shadow Puppets

Chapter 1

Strains of classical music filtered into the cool of the Porsche through the open window from a neighboring car, providing a backdrop to the mild, sunny morning as Ranger drove through the streets of Trenton. He was cruising towards the bonds office at a leisurely pace, enjoying the purr of the engine and the relative cool of the air before the day started to heat up and the pollution got thick and heavy.

Vinnie had called him and asked him to come in and discuss a business proposition. It was unlikely to be particularly worthwhile, but a reason to visit Vincent Plum bail bonds was never a bad thing, as long as you overlooked having to be in a room with the man himself. His company may have moved on to bigger and better things, but there were a lot of things he missed about the simple days when he was more a bounty hunter than anything else.

He smiled slightly when he reached the door and saw the back of a curly brunette head in the main part of the office. There was the main thing he missed, right there. Stephanie Plum was trouble incarnate and had never let a sleeping dog lie in her life. She was also guaranteed to be the high point of any day that she crossed his path. The woman was a pit bull masquerading as a poodle. It was hard not to respect the way she never let go of something; he just wished she'd make an exception once in a while when her safety was at stake. He'd seen less effective lightning rods.

He waited outside for a moment, watching her chattering animatedly to Connie and Lula. It looked like the weekend post-mortem was underway. Tank's ears should be burning right now, judging by the cat-got-the-cream look that Lula was sporting along with her latest fashion creation, a vision of fuschia, cleavage and straining seams.

Connie said something and all three of them shrieked with laughter. He'd lay odds that some poor bastard was getting his technique dissected right now.

With that thought in mind, he decided to wait for the conversation to move on before letting them know he was there. He could live without being the subject of female speculation this morning. He grinned to himself. Not that Stephanie needed to speculate. Hell, if she needed a refresher he was ready any time she was.

Another burst of laughter broke through the front door, only this time Stephanie was the subject. From the way she was waving a half-eaten donut around while Connie handed her paper towels and Lula roared, he'd guess that food was involved. He stifled a laugh.

He gave it a few more moments then pushed the door open quietly and slipped into the office.

Stephanie had her back to the door and was shaking her head violently. "Wrong, he has ESP. I swear he can tell what I'm thinking _all_ the _time_. I have to stay away from him after those kind of dreams…"

Connie and Lula both noticed him at the same time and went wide eyed and silent as Stephanie continued. He fought to maintain a straight face from his position behind her.

"…otherwise he'd know every over… heated… detail… " Stephanie trailed off, watching their faces. "He's standing behind me, isn't he?"

Connie and Lula nodded mutely.

"Damn," she muttered.

She pretty much took the words right out of his mouth. There was no way in hell he could walk away from this one. He only had so much willpower.

He watched her take a deep breath and turn around slowly. "Hi Ranger."

"Need to talk to you outside, Babe." He grabbed her hand and pulled her out stumbling through the door before she could recover her wits enough to stop him.

When they got out into the alley he pressed her into the rough brick of the wall and kept a hand on her shoulder to prevent her from bolting.

"Talk."

"About what?" she asked innocently.

"You dream about me?"

"It's not my fault!" she protested. "No-one can help what they dream–"

He cut her off abruptly with a heated kiss, trapping her against the wall. When he pulled away again her eyes were glazed.

"Huh," she muttered incoherently.

"Anything else to say?"

"Again?"

He grinned and leaned in for another kiss, this time taking his time and sliding a hand under her tee-shirt to explore her breast at the same time.

"Jesus Christ!" A familiar voice echoed down the alley to reach them.

Ranger felt Stephanie's body against him stiffen from melting compliance to horrified shock. He released her to turn towards the sound, looking himself at the same time.

Morelli stood at the entrance to the alley, shock and disgust written large on his features. "I never trusted him, but you? I never would have believed this of you, Steph."

"Joe," she said despairingly.

"No. Just forget it." He dropped her forgotten cellphone on the ground where he stood before turning on his heel and stalking away.

"I have to go." Stephanie ran out of the alley after Morelli without looking back.

Ranger sighed silently to himself and walked back round to the bonds office. One day she'd walk away from the cop for good. Until then, God help him, he'd take whatever scraps he could get and carry on warming himself at her fire. A sane man would just turn on the light and the heating, but given the chance he'd rather enjoy the flickering dance and take a chance on his house burning down. No-one had ever called him sane, after all.

_o0o o0o o0o_

He was coming out of a client's premises in downtown Trenton the next day when a white haired woman detached herself from the shade of the neighboring store front and walked over to him. She was wearing a long black coat and dress despite the summer heat and her glare could have drilled holes through sheet metal.

"Thief," she hissed at him. "Defiler."

She moved in closer and tilted her head back to maintain her stare from her position level with his chest. "You stay away from my grandson's fiancée, or I'll put the eye on you. Do you hear me?"

Ranger walked straight past her without even acknowledging her presence. He had better things to do than stand out in the heat humoring mad old women from the Burg. Stephanie wasn't wearing a ring, and if Morelli couldn't give her what she needed, he needed to deal with his problems with her direct and not hide behind his grandmother's dusty, black skirts.

She followed him for a few steps as he walked away. "This isn't over, thief."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing__._

Shadow Puppets

Chapter 2

Ranger didn't see Stephanie for the next few days. He suspected that she was avoiding him to keep the peace with her asshole boyfriend and his crazy grandma. Probably for the best anyway. Give them a chance to get back into their whole insane on again off again thing. If he saw her he'd probably give into temptation again, and since Abruzzi, Morelli knew a little too much about him for comfort. Under normal circumstances, Morelli had too much to lose if he tried to use the information. No point in making him crazy enough to upset the balance.

_o0o o0o o0o_

A week after Morelli's discovery, it all went to hell anyway.

Stephanie's car went off the grid and the guys called him as soon as it happened, the way they normally did. He took off straight away to the spot where they had lost contact and found Stephanie sitting on the curb at a safe distance watching the paint bubble where flames were licking up the side of her car. As he joined her the seats caught and the interior started to burn merrily as well.

He sat on the curb next to her without saying anything.

"It's actually kind of pretty," she said to him without taking her eyes off the flames. "Hard to look away from."

"I know." God knows, he hadn't managed it yet. "What happened?"

She shrugged. "Smoke just started pouring out from under the hood. Must have been something wrong with the car."

She looked tired and drawn. "I'd only had this one a month. My insurance company wouldn't even provide me with full coverage. I guess that's what you get when you spend under five hundred bucks on a car."

"Why don't you just let me give you a car, Babe?"

"I don't want the responsibility. Besides, Morelli would blow a gasket. He's barely talking to me as it is." She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around her knees, pulling herself inwards into a tight ball of misery washed with flickering orange light from the flames and red and blue from the emergency vehicles.

"You happy, Steph?"

Shit, where did that come from? That wasn't maintaining the balance and letting her make her own decisions.

"Oh yeah, never better. Why wouldn't I be, right? He's a good guy. All a girl could want. I guess I'm just tired. Killing cars takes it out of you." She leaned her head against his shoulder looking for comfort and he slung an arm around her.

That was how Morelli found them.

"You just can't stay away from her, can you, Manoso?"

Fuck.

"Well, congratulations. You pulled it off. I'm done with finding you sniffing around her every time I turn around. You've poisoned her so badly with all your 'help' that we don't stand a chance any more. I just hope you had a plan and you didn't break us up for nothing. Goodbye, Steph." He tossed a key to the tarmac at her feet.

"Looks like I screwed up again," Stephanie murmured tiredly without lifting her head. "It's usually something I do that starts it."

"Wrong. I think that one's on my tab."

"Makes no difference, results the same. He didn't shout much, though, considering he just gave me back the key to my apartment. Hardly any entertainment value at all."

"Babe."

"Give me a ride home?"

"Any time. Come on." He got to his feet and extended a hand to pull her up. "Meet me for lunch tomorrow?"

"Why not? Word will go around anyway. Might as well give them their money's worth. You'll need to pick me up though. I don't think this," she waved at the burning shell of her car, "is taking me anywhere."

_o0o o0o o0o_

When they got out of the Turbo in the restaurant parking lot, the white-haired old lady that Ranger had ignored the week before was standing by the entrance. Stephanie recognised her, and paled. "Oh Jesus, it's Grandma Bella."

"Morelli's grandma, I take it?"

She nodded frantically. "We have to leave. Now."

"She can't be worse than _your_ grandma, Babe."

"She's way worse. She has the Eye."

"She has two."

"No, not that kind. I mean the _Eye_. She can curse people."

"You telling me you believe in curses, Stephanie?" he asked doubtfully.

"Whatever. Can we just leave?"

He shrugged. "If you want."

They got back into the car and pulled out of the parking lot again. Ranger noticed another old woman step out of the shadows to stand next to Bella as they drove past. She was similarly dressed in a faded black dress, but she was much taller than Bella, around six feet tall. The rock-hard bun on the back of her head was steel gray instead of white and her eyes were a piercing shade of blue. Both women's eyes followed the Turbo closely until it was out of sight.

"Omigod, Grandma Bella. Grandma Bella's after me. I'm in so much trouble. What am I going to do? Joe set Grandma Bella on me."

Stephanie's panicky babbling while he was driving was starting to drill through Ranger's skull. "She's just an old lady, Steph."

"She's not. There's a reason why people are scared of Grandma Bella."

"I'm not."

"Maybe you should be. Don't they have voodoo where you come from?"

"Newark? Not so much, and you're thinking of Haiti."

"Oh God, what am I going to do? Grandma Bella wants vengeance. There must be something we can do to stop her."

"I have a better idea."

"What?"

"I take your mind off Grandma Bella."

"How?"

"I guarantee you'll like it." He'd make sure of it. Morelli's loss was definitely going to be his gain. First step: throwing Stephanie on his bed and reminding her of what she'd been missing.

_o0o o0o o0o_

A couple of hours later, he flopped back onto the bed beside her, naked and sweaty, and listened smugly as her gasps gradually settled into normal breathing again.

"So, still worried about her?"

"About who?" Stephanie murmured, eyes closed.

"No-one."

_o0o o0o o0o_

A slight sound in his bedroom woke him, and he rolled over to find Stephanie up and next to the bed pulling on her panties. "Where you going, Babe?"

"Home to change. I promised that I'd have dinner with my parents tonight. Want to come?"

"Your grandma going to be there?"

"Probably."

"Pass."

"Coward," she accused.

No, he'd just exceeded his quota of crazy old ladies for the week already, but he wasn't going to mention that and set her off again. "Guilty. Next time."

She stopped dressing and turned to him, doing a bad job of concealing the hope on her face. "Next time?"

_You need to work on that gameface, Babe._ "Yeah. Now get out of here before I decide to drag you back into bed and keep you there." _And please don't ask any serious questions. Let me work into this relationship thing gradually._

Thankfully she didn't ask any more questions, just stuffed her bra into her pocket and pulled her tee-shirt over her head. To his mind, tragically ruining the view.

She leaned over the bed to kiss him goodbye and he seized the opportunity to grab her tee-shirt and pull her over so that she fell on top of him. Her bare breasts under the tee-shirt plastered against his chest as he dragged her in for a deep kiss.

"Have fun. I'll see you tomorrow," he said as he let her up again.

"Where do you want to meet?" she asked.

"I'll find you. Here, take the Turbo to get to your parents." He took the keys from the bedside table and tossed them to her.

She caught the keys and shot him a brilliant smile before leaving.

He rolled out of bed and padded over to the shower. Time to get back to work.

_o0o o0o o0o_

He worked late catching up on the paperwork in his fifth floor office, trying to clear the decks a little. If he was honest, he hated the paperwork side of running a company and got out on the street every chance he got. That meant there was always a pile of paper demanding his attention, and usually his business manager trying to hunt him down as well. Occasionally he had to let him find him, otherwise the stacks of paper reached dangerous heights and he had to do paperwork for days without coming up for air.

A post-coital afternoon nap with Stephanie turned out to have been a wonderful thing for his concentration, though, because he managed to finish everything outstanding in one ten-hour hit. When he had signed the last document waiting for him he finally hit the couch in the office.

He ended up sleeping there so often that Ella had started leaving a pillow and a blanket folded up in the room for him. He pulled them out now and got comfortable. Just a quick nap, then he could reward himself for his hard work tonight by luring Stephanie back to bed again tomorrow. Maybe they could pick up a couple of skips together first then spend the rest of the day in bed. That would actually be pretty close to his definition of a perfect day. Something to look forward to.


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing__._

Shadow Puppets

Chapter 3

He was awakened in the morning by the sound of his cellphone vibrating its way across the table next to the couch. He reached out without looking to pick it up. It was something he'd done a thousand times before, but this time his fingers fumbled and failed to grasp the phone, knocking it to the floor.

"Shit."

He sat up on the couch, swung his legs over and stood up. Except that his feet unexpectedly didn't touch the floor for the first time in 25 years. He overbalanced and fell, landing on his face with a soft thud.

"Fuck," he muttered into the carpet. "Wake up, asshole."

He rolled to his back and scrubbed a hand across his face. It felt… wrong. Soft. Fuzzy, in fact.

"What the hell?"

He lowered his hand and looked at it carefully. He still had five fingers, but his knuckle joints and fingernails were missing. Instead, his fingers resembled soft, fuzzy, brown sausages.

He looked down at the rest of himself. He had just kicked off his boots and slept in the rest of his clothes, and they looked normal enough.

"I'm dreaming. And if I'm hallucinating because someone spiked my tea last night, I'm gonna hunt him down and terminate him with extreme prejudice."

He pushed himself to his feet and staggered out to the fifth floor bathroom to look in the mirror and find out what the hell was going on.

_o0o o0o o0o_

Once he was in the bathroom he realized exactly why he had fallen off the couch. The bathroom mirrors hung on the wall above the basins, way out of his reach, and the reason they hung so far out of his reach was because he currently stood a little taller than the top of the toilet tanks. It felt like a scene from Jack and the Beanstalk. Something was so seriously fucked up that he had no idea where to start.

Correction – he would start by getting up there for a look into that mirror. He might be temporarily… something, but he was still ex-special forces. Climbing was no problem.

Second correction – climbing was no problem if your skin wasn't suddenly and unexplainably fuzzy. Trying to climb with fuzzy fingers turned out to be a bitch of the first order.

It took him four attempts before he worked out that he just didn't have the grip to pull himself up by his hands using the basins. Four humiliating attempts that ended with him sitting on his ass on the floor of the bathroom each time.

Finally he gave up and made an undignified scramble up the wall using the waste pipes. It wasn't pretty, but at least it worked.

Balancing carefully with one foot on each basin he looked in one of the mirrors.

And looked.

And looked.

And looked some more, speechless with horror at the sight of the muppet face looking back at him.

_o0o o0o o0o_

His skin was the same warm coffee colour as it always had been, but it looked fuzzy, like felt. His nose was a large fuzzy triangle in the middle of his face and his mouth was just a slash across it. His hair was still pulled back from his face in its usual fashion, but it looked and felt like black wool.

"A muppet. God help me, I'm a fucking muppet."

While Ranger was still staring into the mirror in mesmerized horror, the main door to the bathroom opened and Tank walked in from the corridor.

He promptly roared with laughter at the sight of Ranger standing on the basins, and opened the door again to yell out into the corridor. "Lester! Get your ass in here. Someone's put a muppet in here that looks like the boss."

As Lester's voice shouted, "Awesome," from somewhere outside, Tank turned back to find Ranger glaring at him with folded arms from his position balanced on the basins. "It's not a fucking muppet, Tank, it's me. Something happened to me."

Lester poked his head round the door. "Where is it? Oh man, how cool is that? That is freaking awesome."

"It just spoke just like the boss. Someone's gotta be operating it."

"Someone with a death wish."

Ranger tried again. "Listen up, you assholes. This is not a puppet. This is me. You have to help me."

They both howled with laughter.

"Excellent!" Lester shouted. "Who's doing it? Come on out, man."

Ranger suppressed his sudden urgent desire to scream and jumped to the next basin to get closer to them. "You two, pay attention or you're both dead and fired, in whichever order I can arrange it. This is me. To prove it: Tank, I know what happened outside Pleasure Treasures the night you hooked up with Lula. We never told anybody. Lester, I know why you were _really_ discharged from the service, not what's on your discharge papers. There are maybe four people in the world that know the truth. Now both of you, if you don't pay attention and give me some fucking help, my silence ends and I will broadcast both those truths to the world. _Do you understand__?_"

The laughter stopped.

"Boss?" Lester asked uncertainly.

"Yes. Now go ahead of me and make sure that we can get to my office without being seen. Get Bobby in there too, and the on-call doctor. I want a medical opinion on this."

"Yes, boss."

_o0o o0o o0o_

"Unbelievable," the doctor murmured as he applied a stethoscope to Ranger's chest. "There's no heartbeat, but you're clearly alive. Make a fist for me?"

Ranger did so.

"Now take my hand and try to move it."

Ranger seized his outstretched hand and tried to push it toward the floor. He could barely move it.

"You move normally enough but you've clearly lost a lot of strength, although there's still enough there to allow you to move and talk. Open your mouth?"

Ranger complied, although he was getting seriously irritated with being poked and prodded.

"You have a throat, but no breath sounds, so I'm not sure if you have a working alimentary canal or an airway. We should probably check the other end to investigate the possibility of an alimentary canal."

Ranger took two steps back and placed his hands firmly across his pants fastening before anyone could suggest that they should come off. "Enough," he said firmly. "I'll check that myself in private."

The doctor held both hands up, palms facing out. "Whatever. Your skin seems to be a kind of felt material, and underneath it–" he grabbed Ranger's arm, produced a scalpel and made a tiny incision in the felt.

"HEY!" Ranger roared. "How about a fucking warning?"

"–white synthetic stuffing. How are the pain receptors?"

"Working," Ranger replied shortly, glowering at him.

"Hey, did you ever see that episode of Angel where the boss was a puppet? His nose came off." Lester looked at Ranger speculatively.

Ranger fixed him with a stare that was as steely as felt could manage. "Come any closer and I _will_ shoot you."

"Sorry, boss."

"The truth is, I have no idea what's going on. You shouldn't be alive," the doctor said.

"I want to know how your clothes shrank with you," Bobby commented.

"I pissed off Morelli's grandmother this week. Steph claimed that she had the ability to curse people."

"Witchcraft? You've got to be kidding me," Lester interjected.

"Do you have a better explanation?" Ranger indicated his muppet body. "Find her and check it out. And go and check on Steph too. If Grandma Bella is responsible, she's involved too."

Tank, Lester and Bobby exchanged surreptitious glances at each other.

"And I can still see, you assholes, even if my eyes are currently made out of felt. I'm sure you can guess why she's pissed off, now go and make sure that Steph's all right."

"Yes boss," all three muttered.

"I'll be in my office. Tank, find the witch. I want this sorted a.s.a.p., do you hear me?"

Ranger stalked into his office and closed the door. It took him a couple of minutes of pushing to get the door all the way closed.

Tank sat down and started to make calls to trace the woman responsible for the chaos.

The door had been closed for less than a minute when an enraged cry filtered through the door. "My dick! Where's my fucking dick?"

_o0o o0o o0o_

Lester arrived at Stephanie's apartment building and saw Ranger's car parked next to the dumpster. He went upstairs and knocked at the door to Stephanie's apartment, getting no answer. "Steph?" he called at the door. "You okay?"

When she still didn't come to the door he quickly picked the lock and let himself in, hoping that she was just hiding and not missing. The apartment was silent.

"Steph? Bomber? We called you first and got no answer. We just want to make sure you're okay. Ranger's worried about you."

He walked slowly through the apartment, checking every space. When he got to the bedroom and opened the door, he heard a small rustle in the closet. "Steph?"

"Go away." The voice coming from the closet was muffled, but sounded tearful.

"Come on out, Bomber. I think I know what's happened to you. It's happened to Ranger too."

That got a response. The closet door swung open and Stephanie peered round the door. "Is he okay?"

"Mad as hell and worried about you. Come on, come out. You know me, I'm unshockable."

She emerged slowly from the closet.

"Holy crap! Sorry, Steph, I mean, oh Christ, what do I mean? It's just, well, you look… "

"Shut up, Lester, and tell me you can fix this," Stephanie interrupted shakily.

"We're on it, I swear. Let's get you back to RangeMan and Ranger, and you two can… feel sorry for yourselves, together, okay?"

"No-one can see me like this."

"How about I wrap you in a blanket and carry you out?"

She nodded hesitantly. "Okay. Let me just grab a few things."

She packed a small bag and allowed Lester to wrap a blanket around her and make it into a bundle to hide what he was carrying. He slung the bag over his arm and picked her up, carrying it all downstairs to the SUV.

Halfway down the stairs she hissed from inside the blanket, "Lester! Keep your hands to yourself."

"Sorry," he muttered. "Just curious."

_o0o o0o o0o_

Ranger was wearing a track in his office carpet when Lester tapped at the door and let himself in. Ranger pounced when he saw him. "Where is she? Is she okay?"

"She's right here, and see for yourself."

Lester unwrapped the blanket and let Stephanie down gently to stand swaying on the carpet.

She was about three feet high, the same size as Ranger, but she was an entirely different shape. Her muppet shape was an exaggerated hourglass, complete with impossibly tiny waist. Her curly hair had been transformed into dark wavy wool that fell halfway down her back and her skin was a soft creamy color. She looked like a soft, fuzzy Jessica Rabbit.

Ranger just stared for a few moments, before finally managing a stuttered, "Babe… "

"Oh my God, it's bad isn't it," she wailed, and her voice was all her own. "I told you we should be scared of Grandma Bella. Now what?"

"I think you're missing the point, Bomber," Lester said from where he had stepped back against the wall. "I mean, yeah, involuntary muppethood bad, no question, but you look really fucka–"

"_Out_," Ranger said firmly to him, pointing to the door. "I'll deal with this."

When the door had closed again Stephanie had moved from where she had been standing. He looked around his office and found her huddled in a corner of the couch with her arms wrapped around her knees. He scrambled up the treacherously smooth leather of the couch to join her and put an arm around her soft, fuzzy shoulder.

"What Lester was going to say, in his own warped way, was that, as muppets go, you look hot."

"Really?" she sniffed.

"Yeah."

She grimaced. "That's kind of icky. I mean, he's huge, and I'm tiny, and…"

"Yeah well, that's Lester for you."

"And you?"

"Me?"

"What do you think?"

"Do you really have to ask?"

"I'm asking," she said firmly.

It looked like female vanity still applied even when you were three feet high and made of felt. "You look amazing. Beautiful."

"For what it's worth, you look pretty good as a muppet too." She looked down at her chest. "Where'd you suppose they came from? I didn't have them before."

He snorted. "Complaining?"

"Nope, just looking for the silver lining."

"I just hope I can still hold a gun. For some reason I have a burning urge to shoot somebody."

"I told you about Grandma Bella."

"Yeah, you did."

"So how are we going to fix this?"

"The guys are looking for her right now."

_o0o o0o o0o_

Tank sighed as he put the phone down. "That was the last one."

"Every Morelli in the phone book?" Bobby asked.

"And anyone else I could think of that might be related. Every last one either claimed to have no idea or straight out stonewalled me. They're closing ranks."

He got up and reluctantly walked round to Ranger's office. He had a feeling that Ranger wasn't going to take this well.

He tapped on the door and let himself in to stand in his usual report position in front of Ranger's desk. Ranger was still sitting on the couch under the window, Stephanie tucked in next to him. "Report."

"No luck so far."

"We need to find her, Tank."

"We're trying, boss, but we haven't got the right kind of connections here."

"I'm not interested in excuses. Just find her."

"Yes boss."

_o0o o0o o0o_

He was standing in front of Ranger's desk again eight hours later, still empty handed.

"What do you mean, no-one's seen her?" Ranger growled at him.

He had climbed up on to his desk, trying and failing to get high enough to stand eye to eye with his second in command. Now he paced the top of the desk furiously, pausing occasionally to look over to where Stephanie was curled up asleep on the couch, her fuzzy, newly enhanced breasts straining at the tank top of the pajamas she had been wearing when the curse hit her.

"I've had three teams combing the Burg looking for her, and I'm telling you, no-one's seen her. It's like she's disappeared into thin air."

With a snarl of frustration, Ranger sprang from the top of the desk to hang by two fistfuls of Tank's tee-shirt and glare up at him.

"Look at her, Tank," he hissed. "She looks like Jessica Rabbit. She's all soft and curvy and fuzzy and gorgeous, and _I have no fucking dick_! Do you see where I'm going with this, Tank? I may have to hurt people if this isn't sorted out."

"Yes, boss."

Ranger let go of his tee-shirt and slid back to the desk, stalking across it to climb into his chair and sit down.

"Ahh, boss?" Tank asked tentatively.

"What?"

"Have you, well, checked there's somewhere for your dick to go when you get it back?"

Ranger paused for a long moment then started beating his soft, fuzzy head against the desk.

Tank walked out of the office to the sound of puppet weeping. He hoped that Ranger's felt wouldn't stain too badly with all the water. An unkind person seeing him at that moment might have suspected that he was trying not to laugh.


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing__._

Shadow Puppets

Chapter 4

Tank took a deep breath as he pulled his cellphone out and told himself that this was what Ranger wanted, even if he didn't know it. He just hoped that Ranger never found out what he'd had to do. After all, what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

"Hey Lu, can you meet me outside the bonds office in twenty minutes?"

"Sure thing, baby. I'll be there."

He went down to the parking garage, climbed into one of the RangeMan SUVs and went to pick up his girlfriend.

_o0o o0o o0o_

Lula was waiting on the street for him when he arrived at the bonds office. He reached over and opened the passenger door. "Get in."

She looked at him curiously and climbed into the passenger seat. As soon as the door was closed he pulled out into the traffic.

Lula waited for a couple of minutes then broke the silence when it was obvious that he wasn't going to. "Wanna tell me what all the cloak and dagger stuff's about?"

"I need your help, Lu."

"Name it."

"Can you find me someone who can get close to Bella Morelli?"

"Morelli? Like Joe Morelli?"

"His grandma."

"Damn, baby, I ain't Burg. How am I supposed to know?"

"You're Steph's friend. I hoped you'd know someone who could help us. And can keep their mouth shut. Oh, and who ain't afraid of her either."

"Damn." Lula lapsed into silence while Tank drove around Trenton picking turns at random.

After ten minutes she took a deep breath. "Okay, I thought of someone. But you ain't gonna like it."

"Tell me."

"Only one I can think of is Steph's grandma."

Tank winced. "The only one?"

"Like I said, I ain't Burg, but I've met her grandma and that crazy old lady ain't scared of nobody. She's old too, so they might go to the same places, and she'd help just for the hell of it. Now, tell me what the hell's goin' on."

Tank told her.

"You serious?" Lula was wide eyed with disbelief. When he nodded grimly she shook her head and looked out of the window at the Trenton streets passing by. After a few minutes she snorted quietly, looking down and gnawing her lower lip to try to maintain a straight face. Her shaking shoulders still gave her away.

Finally, after a few minutes of silent shaking as she restrained her giggles, she regained control. "Muppets. Hot damn. What does Ranger look like? Does he still look hot?"

"Mostly he just looks pissed off. Now, will you help me fix this before he starts shooting people?"

"No way I'm missing out on this one. Let's go see Steph's grandma."

_o0o o0o o0o_

Edna Mazur was waiting at the front door of Steph's parents' house when Tank and Lula pulled up outside.

"There she is," Lula observed, "and it looks like she's been waitin' for us. How'd you suppose she knew?"

"Old ladies are starting to give me the creeps," Tank muttered.

"Well don't you two make the cutest pair," Edna beamed as they walked up the path. "Like a matched set."

"Hey Mrs M. How's my favorite band buddy?" Lula greeted her.

Tank just regarded her impassively. "Mrs Mazur."

"Tell me, is he that big everywhere?" Edna whispered to Lula as she drew next to her.

"Now you don't really expect me to answer that, do you?" Lula said cheerfully, following it with a mouthed, "Later."

Edna beckoned for them to follow her in. "Come in for some coffee cake, and tell me how you need my help."

She went inside, leaving Tank and Lula to exchange glances and shrugs behind her back.

_o0o o0o o0o_

When they were seated in the lounge with cups of coffee and slabs of cake, Lula started. "How'd you know we needed your help, Mrs M?"

"I just did. It runs in the family. Those Hungarian gypsy genes make us more than just hot stuff between the sheets, you know," Edna answered, keeping her eyes fixed on Tank the whole time and winking at the end.

Tank's face didn't change but a barely perceptible twitch of horror ran through his shoulders.

"Your grand-daughter has a problem, Mrs Mazur," he rumbled, desperate to move the conversation to safer waters. "We believe that Bella Morelli is involved. Can you help us find her?"

Edna's eyes were sharp and assessing as she looked at him. "What kind of problem? Why isn't she here herself?"

"Would you believe she's been turned into a muppet?" Lula said weakly.

"You're not telling me that crazy old coot finally pulled off the big one?"

Tank nodded silently.

"I'm not saying I don't believe you, but I think I need to see her. Then I'll see what I can do. Just, whatever you do, don't tell her mother."

_o0o o0o o0o_

"You do realize that Ranger's going to kill me for this," Tank said as they pulled into the RangeMan building.

"Sounds to me like he ain't got many choices unless he wants to stay fuzzy. Suck it up and let's do this," Lula answered. "Let's go, Mrs M."

They followed Tank to the elevator. He took them up to the control room and left them there for a few minutes while he went to find Lester.

"Holy cow, would you look at all the hot man-flesh!" Edna cackled as she looked around. "No wonder Steph's always coming here. I've got to get a job here too. Do you know if they're hiring?"

One of the men on monitor duty looked up in horror before turning his attention back to the screens and studying them as if his life depended on it.

Tank returned and carefully ignored the wide berth that the men were giving the wrinkled old lady with the excited expression. "They're in the apartment. Let's go."

The two women followed him. Edna stopped occasionally to check out different RangeMan asses as they passed.

_o0o o0o o0o_

When they got to the apartment Stephanie and Ranger were both waiting for them. Ranger had managed to find a small Derringer that he could use and had it in his hand as he glared at Tank and his guests.

"Well will you look at these two," Edna said. "You didn't say that it had happened to the bounty hunter with the great package too."

Tank watched Ranger's hand tighten on his gun, but Edna appeared to miss it, continuing blithely, "You both look so _cute_."

Stephanie had apparently noticed the reflex action too. "Lula, can you and Grandma come with me? We need to talk."

"Sure thing. Nice boobs there, by the way, girlfriend."

The two women followed Stephanie's fuzzy form into the bedroom and closed the door.

"This was your solution?" Ranger scowled at Tank once they were alone.

"You told me to find someone with local contacts. This was the best I could come up with. Her family would have started looking for her soon anyway, so this way we have some control over that. Anyway, everybody thinks she's crazy, so damage control will be easier." Tank had been dredging up every possible reason for doing this through the whole of the journey back to the office.

"You'd better be right, because I swear, if she tells the whole of the Burg, I will hunt you down and lock you in a room with her – naked."

Tank swallowed. "Yes, boss."

_o0o o0o o0o_

Tank steadily ate all the cookies laid out at the back of the room at Stiva's while he nervously watched Edna work the room, chatting with friends and asking questions.

"I can't believe we're doing this," he grumbled through a mouthful of oatmeal raisin. Dave and Scooter were standing protectively by the coffin looking worried too.

"Relax, baby. She's workin' the room, not checkin' out the coffin. We're seeing' a whole new Edna now she's got herself a mission. Nothin's gonna happen. Have another cookie." Lula bit into another one herself, keeping her eyes fixed on Edna and praying that she was telling the truth.

Finally Edna finished and rejoined them. "Nobody's seen her in the last three days, but something's definitely wrong. The whole of the Morelli family's gone quiet. No-one could tell me anything."

It was the same story at the Clip 'n' Curl, the Bingo Hall and everywhere else they tried. No sign of Bella and nobody talking that had anything useful to offer.

Bella's house was closed and silent, giving nothing away. Lula and Edna sat in the SUV at dusk while Tank did a little B and E to see if there was anything in the house to help. Twenty minutes later he returned and got back into the driver's seat. "Nothing."

"Guess we're screwed then," Lula said, "'Cause I can't think of anything else."

"There's one Morelli we haven't tried yet," Edna pointed out from the back seat.

"Who?" Lula asked, before starting to shake her head slowly. "Oh no. You've got to be kidding me."

"The boy's eaten dinner at my house once a week for the last year. We all thought he was going to marry my grand-daughter. Of course we need to speak to him. Why would he not help?"

"How about because this whole thing is revenge because she hurt him?"

"Bella's revenge. Joseph wouldn't do this."

Lula shrugged. "Okay, I got nothing else. Let's go try Officer Hottie."

_o0o o0o o0o_

The desk officer confirmed that Morelli was in the station when they visited, and they were shown to an interview room to wait for him. After ten minutes he joined them, seeing and greeting Edna first.

"Hey Grandma, what can I do–" When he saw Tank leaning against the wall by the door his face shut down immediately. "What do you want?"

"Officer Morelli."

"We need your help, Joseph," Edna said. "Something's happened to Stephanie."

The shutters lifted again, leaving his face full of concern. "What's happened to her?"

"Your Grandma Bella."

He laughed. "Oh please. Don't give me that crap. My Grandma's powers are a myth from the Old Country. She's just an old lady."

"We need to find her, Joseph."

"No. If you believe this you're as crazy as she is. Whatever you're up to, just forget it. Steph made her bed, and she made it with Manoso behind my back. Let her lie in it."

"But I haven't told–"

The door to the interview room slammed shut, leaving the room silent behind it.

Lula broke the silence first. "So much for that idea."

_o0o o0o o0o_

When they returned to RangeMan to report their failure, Ranger was silent for a long minute before pulling the tiny Derringer from his miniaturized cargoes and putting a hole into the side of the couch.

"Move on to the witch angle," he informed them before stalking into the bedroom and heaving the door shut behind him.

"And find me some more clothes!" they heard him shout through the door a moment later.

_o0o o0o o0o_

Tank met Lester and Bobby in one of the conference rooms.

"Finding Bella was a bust. We need to start finding a cure instead, and we need to keep a lid on the number of people that know. We'll take two points, with one of us staying back to run RangeMan. I'm gonna take Lula with me to check out local magic shops and try to get some advice. Steph's grandma knows too much for us to let her loose now, so one of you will have to take her with you while you check out organised witchcraft. We pack for a week and stay out running down whatever leads we can find. The other one stays back to run RangeMan and provide office support."

Lester and Bobby both scowled at him before facing each other and shooting a round of RPS.

"Yes!" Bobby punched the air as his paper beat Lester's rock, "I call office duty. You get the road trip with Steph's grandma."

"Shit," Lester cursed, and stalked out of the room.

"You ever gonna tell him that he always shoots rock the first time?" Tank asked mildly.

"Are you kidding me? It's way too useful."


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing._

Shadow Puppets 

Chapter 5

"So how come we're both doin' the witchcraft thing? What about voodoo and shit like that?" Lula asked Tank as they drove out of the RangeMan garage. "They can put the bad mojo on, can't they? And I always wanted to go to New Orleans."

"How likely do you think it is that Joe Morelli's Catholic Italian grandma is practising African spirit worship?" Tank asked bluntly.

Lula looked insulted. "Don't you take that tone with me. We're tryin' to find out how two people got turned into muppets. Since when were we talkin' about likely?"

"And anyway, you're a Baptist from New Jersey. Would you have any idea where to start?"

"Well… no. Wouldn't you?"

"Not a damn clue. Just 'cause I look like the guy in Live and Let Die don't make me no Baron Samedi. I plan to find some help closer to home before trailing halfway across the country to check out a remote possibility. We're gonna start with a magic shop in Boonton that I found on the internet last night."

Lula looked at Tank speculatively.

"What?"

"You don't normally talk this much."

"Don't normally have a reason."

"I like it. Not that this don't suck for Steph and Ranger and all, but I like you like this. All take charge and stuff. It's kinda hot. Just so long as you don't actually start thinkin' you can boss me around."

Tank just shook his head and kept on driving.

"I'm just sayin', is all."

_o0o o0o o0o_

The Faerie Circle was a small store in an upmarket part of Boonton, New Jersey. It was grouped with a few others, all selling low volume, specialist items like dollhouses, scented candles and ballet shoes.

Wind chimes tinkled softly in a variety of tones as they pushed open the glass door. They walked into the dimly lit store and were immediately overpowered by a thick cloud of sandalwood smoke.

Lula made a strangled sound and rubbed her suddenly watering eyes. "God damn! I think my sinuses just burned out. This shit is gonna make my hair stink for a week." She opened her eyes and peered around the dimly lit interior. "Tank? Baby? Where'd you go?"

An ethereal face detached itself from a shadowy corner of the store and drifted towards her with a faint clinking sound. As it drew closer it resolved itself into a pale young woman draped in black robes with hair dyed an inky black to match. The clinking sound was supplied by the myriad silver bangles adorning both wrists and the large dangly silver and amethyst earrings hanging from her ears.

The spectral young woman extended both her hands out in front of her in an elaborate sweeping gesture. "Welcome to the Faerie Circle, sister," she intoned. "How may I be of service to you this day?"

"You can open a window for a start. How the hell do you breathe in here? And if I fall over in the dark and break my leg I'm gonna sue your skinny white ass."

The girl looked at her uncertainly. Lula was evidently not a lot like her usual clientele. "We have some crystal jewellery you might like, and some beautiful new additions to our range of dragon and unicorn figurines."

Tank materialised out of the darkness and moved to stand next to Lula. "We need advice on witches, ma'am."

The girl strangled a squeak of alarm as she looked up at the huge, black man. "We don't stock voodoo supplies."

Lula's eyes narrowed. "Excuse me? Did he ask about voodoo? No, he asked about witches. So why'd you automatically think about voodoo? I think you're just disrespectin' my man. Tank, do you think she's dissin' us?"

The girl started backing nervously towards the rear of the store looking panicky, and their chances of any useable information quickly receded with her.

Tank closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath. "Never mind. We were just leaving." He took Lula's arm and pulled her out of the store.

_o0o o0o o0o_

"Damn, do you believe that?" Lula asked furiously.

Tank just concentrated on getting Lula away from there before she went back inside to really tell the store assistant what she thought. He kept hold of her arm and started walking slowly away from the store. "Come on, baby. Let's get a cup of coffee and settle your nerves."

Lula looked somewhat mollified. "Well, yeah, I could use a cup of coffee. It takes it outta you when you run up against attitude like that."

_o0o o0o o0o_

They found seats at a small café down the road and took an outside table.

Lula eventually calmed down under the influence of a cappuccino and a large apricot Danish. "That didn't go too well, huh?"

"It's only the first one. We can find another. I didn't see anything useful in there anyway."

"What are we looking for anyway?"

"I'm not sure, but somehow I doubt that it's dragon and unicorn figurines."

They were coming to the end of their coffees when a slight woman with reddish brown hair walked up to their table carrying a coffee cup in her hand. "Hi, do you mind if I join you?"

Tank looked around at the rest of the café. There were a few empty tables indoors that he could see. "If you like, but there are tables–"

"Thanks." She plunked herself cheerfully down and extended a slightly grubby hand. "Milly."

He raised his eyebrows and shook the proffered hand. "Tank, and Lula. Help you with something?"

"Interesting question. I don't know. Maybe."

He frowned. "Listen–"

"Don't worry, I'm not selling anything. Nothing you could get in a store anyway. I just sometimes feel like I need to talk to people. There usually turns out to be a reason, and it isn't timeshare sales, I swear."

Lula shrugged at Tank. "At least she ain't wearing black robes and singing."

Milly grinned. "You've met Morgan then. Down at the Faerie Circle?" She said the name in a breathy tone accompanied with a theatrical wave of her hand.

"Oh yeah. All dangly earrings and toy dragons. We met her."

"Yep." Milly took a sip of her coffee. "Good for incense and model unicorns, is Morgan. Not a lot else though."

Tank watched Milly carefully. "So what do you do, Milly?"

"I work with plants. Hence the topsoil layer." She examined her fingernails ruefully. "It never comes off entirely, not unless I want to say goodbye to a layer of skin at the same time. I'm sure it keeps me healthy though. A connection to the earth is never a bad thing. Well, only if you're wearing white clothes, anyway, and I decided that they were pointless for someone like me a long time ago."

"And, if I were, say, to be seeking the help of someone that was more use than Morgan, where would someone like you say that I should start looking?"

She shot him a cheerful smile. "Someone like me would say, you wait for her to find you. So what can your friendly neighbourhood herb-woman do for you, Tank?"

_o0o o0o o0o_

Lula went indoors and got some more coffees and some toast as well, while Tank outlined their unique problem back in Trenton. By the time she returned, Milly was shaking her head in disbelief.

"I'm sorry, guys, but what you're describing just isn't possible. Not unless you're Harry Potter anyway. The Eye is real enough, and a whole lot of other things that people put down to superstition and old wives tales, but changing people into things? Not a chance. Now if you told me that they had a sudden case of boils, or if he had developed a bad case of the floppies–"

Lula snorted.

"–then I'm your woman, but muppets? That's not the kind of magic that exists outside the storybooks. I think you need to start looking for the puppeteer."

She looked keenly at Lula as she sat down. "He your man?" she asked, nodding towards Tank.

Lula nodded. "Uh huh. Why?"

"It okay to talk in front of him?"

"I guess."

"You get pains sometimes, don't you?"

Lula looked away slightly, not meeting either of their eyes. "Maybe."

Milly continued to gaze at her steadily.

"Yeah," Lula said quietly. "Got cut up bad a couple of years back. Why?"

Milly fished in her pocket and pulled out a small bag of herbs and a plain card with a name and telephone number on it, dropping both into Lula's hands. "Drop a tiny pinch of that into hot water every night before you go to bed. Consider it a gift. Call me when you need more."

"And now," she stood up and drained the last of her coffee, "I have a date with a row of beans. It was good to meet you two. Enjoy the rest of your shopping." She grabbed a round of toast off the plate and walked away eating it.

_o0o o0o o0o_

Lula fingered the plastic bag of herbs in her pocket as they drove back in silence in the failing light. Tank was a huge, silent presence at the wheel radiating tension. Finally he broke the silence, his voice thick with uncharacteristic anger.

"How could you do that?"

"Do what?" she asked quietly, although she thought she already knew.

"How could you let me hurt you and not tell me? Do you think I could forgive myself if I hurt you?"

"That's why, right there."

"Damn it, Lu! I love you. I can't touch you knowing that I'm hurting you."

"Yes you can. Don't you ever stop."

"I don't want to hurt you. I can't. It doesn't have to change anything else."

"Yes it would." Her own voice was rising now, becoming shrill in the close confines of the SUV. "It would change everything."

"Why?"

"Because it's worth it. The pain is worth it," and now she was shouting despite him only being a foot away. "When you touch me, I feel clean. I'm not a cut up, ruined whore any more, I'm just Lula, that loves you. I used my body to make a living when I had no choice. Now I do, and I choose to use it to love you. And a little pain now and then don't matter compared to that. So don't you _dare_ take my choices away again."

She folded her arms and flung herself back in her seat, staring out of the window at the street lights starting to flicker on in the evening gloom and trying to stop angry tears from falling.

She studiously ignored the hollow ticking of the indicators as he prepared to make a turn. She ignored the crunch of gravel under the tires and the lurches as the SUV entered an uneven, potholed rest area. She couldn't ignore it when she was pulled across the console of the SUV into a tight embrace that threatened to cut off her air supply.

"Damn fool woman," Tank growled at her. "You'd be making my hair fall out if I had any. Take your damn herbs, and keep your damn choices, okay?"

She nodded and sniffled, not trusting herself to answer.


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing._

Shadow Puppets 

Chapter 6

"Good morning, sunshine!"

Lester woke to the sound of Bobby's cheerful voice next to his bed. He kept his eyes firmly closed as he answered. "What time is it?"

"Time to get up. Your date is here early."

His eyes snapped open at that and he squinted at the clock that sat beside his bed in the fourth floor apartment. "What? I'm not due to pick her up until eleven. I have hours."

Bobby gave him a wide grin. "Alas, she was too excited to wait. She's in conference room three and she's all packed and ready for you."

Lester pulled his pillow over his head. "Just shoot me."

"Oh no. This is way more fun. You have thirty minutes to shower and dress before I send her to come and find you."

Bobby closed the door behind him just before the pillow hit it.

_o0o o0o o0o_

Hal shot out of conference room three as soon as Lester opened the door.

"She's all yours, man," he called down the corridor behind him. "Keep your back against the wall."

Lester tamped down the urge to flee as well and pasted a smile onto his face. "Good morning, Mrs Mazur."

Edna was bouncing on her seat with suppressed excitement. "Call me Edna, please. Now that we're going to be partners and all."

Lester winced slightly. "I thought I was supposed to be picking you up on the way to the airport?"

"Ellen thought I should come here early in case anything came up. She said you might have a proper range for me to practice in too. I don't know what she's so uptight about, I was doing great with the bottles on the front fence. I'd hit nearly half those suckers already. It was just bad luck about that car going past. Could have happened to anyone."

_o0o o0o o0o_

Edna deliberately lagged behind Lester to admire the view as he carried their bags towards the small Cessna.

After a couple of steps he realized that she wasn't with him and turned back. "Coming?"

"Not in years," she sighed.

He froze for a second before assuming a suitably blank face and fishing for a safe subject. "Ever flown in a light aircraft before?"

"No, always commercial. This is going to be something to tell the girls at the Clip 'n' Curl, I can tell you. Flying lessons with a hot young stud."

"Lessons?" Lester's voice carried a note of suppressed panic. "Who said anything about lessons?"

"Well, I had hoped that, since it was just the two of us, there might be a chance for me to learn. It might be useful in case we have to fight our way out."

"No. No can do, absolutely not. And there will be no fighting. We're interviewing the representative of a very reputable coven, not planning an assault."

"Even so, I've got your back, soldier."

Lester whimpered under his breath and concentrated on loading the bags into the plane.

_o0o o0o o0o_

They arrived at Dane County airport, Wisconsin in the early evening and took a rental car to the hotel that Bobby had booked for them.

"Two rooms for RangeMan?" Lester flashed a smile at the middle-aged motel receptionist and watched her flush and drop her pen as she checked the name in the register.

"You have two rooms next to each other on the first floor, Mr Santos." She handed a key to Lester and another one to Edna. "Dinner is available in the restaurant from six onwards, or there are other places locally that you can try."

"Is there room service?" Edna asked.

"The menu is in your room."

As Lester carried their bags to the rooms, Edna yawned and stretched. "You know, I'm not so young as I used to be, and the flying really took it out of me. I think I'll order room service and have an early night. Is that okay with you?"

"Fine," Lester said immediately, offering thanks to any deity that would listen. "You get plenty of rest and I'll see you at breakfast. Eight o'clock?"

"Sounds good." Edna disappeared into her room and closed the door behind her.

Freed from the responsibility of grandma-sitting, Lester went into his own room and showered quickly before heading out to check out the local possibilities for female company.

_o0o o0o o0o_

At midnight he was staggering back towards the hotel with a giggling blonde – Tina? Trina? Something like that – when he caught sight of a familiar looking shape through the window of a small bar.

"Wait!" He caught his companion's hand and pulled her to a stop. "I just need to check something out."

He moved close to the window and watched as a slightly hunched figure with tight gray sausage curls put her hand on the thigh of the elderly man sitting next to her and whispered something in his ear.

"Damn it, Grandma," he muttered, "I thought you were having an early night."

As he continued to watch, his companion forgotten, the man pulled a little bottle of pills out of his breast pocket and shook it. Edna's hand crept a little further up his thigh and Lester closed his eyes before he saw something that might scar his mind forever.

"Jesus. Steph's going to kill me if she finds out Grandma's out getting laid," he said to the glass in front of him.

"You're supposed to be watching your grandma?" Tina or Trina asked. "And who's Steph? Man, you worm. Fancy sneaking out on your grandma to go to a bar. Shithead."

She stormed away up the street, tottering on her high heels.

"Tina, wait!"

"That's _Lena_, you asshole!"

Lester stood on the street sadly watching her depart before skulking back to his hotel room alone and trying to get some sleep.

His night was complete when he was woken by giggles in the corridor and the sound of a key in Edna's door.

He put his pillow over his head and tried to ignore the giggles and the occasional thump coming from the room next to his, until he finally fell asleep. Alone.

_o0o o0o o0o_

Edna came down to breakfast with her wrinkled conquest, whom she introduced as Terry.

Lester concentrated on his bacon and fantasized about different ways of killing Bobby for getting out of this job as he tried to ignore them feeding each other pieces of toast and murmuring to each other.

He listened incredulously as Edna solemnly informed Terry that they were on a mission of life and death importance and her life didn't lend itself to relationships. At one point he tried to catch her eye to warn her to knock it off, but she cheerfully ignored him.

Finally Terry said his goodbyes and left Lester and Edna sitting alone at their table.

Lester glared at her. "Early night, huh?"

She grinned back unrepentantly. "He's mine, he just doesn't know it yet. Let's see the local women beat that."

"Mrs M, we're a thousand miles from home."

"Young man, when you're my age, you'd go a thousand miles for a chance at a live one, too. When this is all over, I'm coming back to claim my prize."

"Sounds like there was plenty of claiming going on last night." He wasn't jealous. Of course not. Just sleep deprived. Nope, not jealous of the seniors from hell at all.

A satisfied look spread across her face and she stretched in a way that might have been luxurious in a woman forty years younger. In her case, something clicked audibly in her back as she extended, making her wince and drop back into her normal, slightly hunched, outline.

"Don't get old," she muttered. "The golden years are a bitch."

_o0o o0o o0o_

After breakfast they drove down to the place where they had arranged to meet their contact.

The visitors' centre in the forest park was quaintly rustic and designed to appeal to tourists, but served reasonable coffee.

"So who are we waiting for?" Edna asked as they nursed drinks in the half-empty café area.

"Her name's Donna, and she's the representative of a fairly open local coven. Bobby found them through an old military contact who had dealings with Circle when they went through all that business getting Wicca recognised as a religion for military burials. Now, when she gets here, leave the talking to me, you hear?"

"Of course," Edna replied blandly.

Lester looked at her suspiciously. "I mean it."

"I wouldn't dream of interfering," Edna assured him, with a face so open that it went right through honest and out the other side all the way back to suspicious.

"Never trust little old ladies with honest faces, didn't you know that?" A tall woman with long brunette hair in a no-nonsense braid sat down at their table. "I'm Donna. Are you Lester?"

"The same. This honest looking lady is Edna, and, trust me, I don't trust her as far as I can throw her." He looked straight at Edna. "Which could be a _long way_."

Edna just winked at him. Lester tried to ignore a sense of impending doom and chose instead to concentrate on the new arrival.

He wasn't sure if he was encouraged or not. She looked absolutely normal. Fresh-faced, no make up, jeans, tee-shirt, and walking boots covered with mud. A stray leaf clung to the end of her braid.

"As you can see, no black cats, no pointy hats, no bat-shaped earrings," she said dryly. "You look like you don't know what to think now."

"Oh, I know what to think." He turned on his lazy smile, the one that never failed when he put it to serious use. Time to turn on the Santos charm that guaranteed full co-operation every time. And in every way.

Her wry smile softened and she visibly bloomed under his appreciative gaze. Direct hit.

"Can you turn people into frogs?"

And there it was. The Edna-shaped sleeper on the railroad track of seduction. Lester cursed Edna silently as Donna stifled a laugh and shifted her attention to his unwanted sidekick. "No, I can't. No–one can."

"How about other things? Trees? Statues? Muppets?"

"No, no and no. Not unless I have a multi-million dollar special effects budget, anyway. I could maybe make someone _think_ they were one of those things if I didn't know better. Just as harmful in its own way. But most curses tend to involve things like erectile dysfunction, loss of hair, sores or hives."

His attention snapped back to the job. It might not have been the way he would have asked, but Edna had gone straight to the point and gotten answers. Wretched woman.

"Know better?" he prompted.

"Ever hear of the rule of three?"

"Three little pigs, three billy goats gruff, three wishes?"

"No. Put the fairy tales back in the book; they won't help you here. I'm talking about the rule that says that anything you do using witchcraft, you'll get back threefold. Now first of all, understand that my coven is strictly white magic so we would never do a casting intending harm in the first place. But, theoretically speaking, if I did a casting to, say, give a love rival hives, I'd better get the calamine lotion in for myself first."

"Do you do all your rituals naked?" Edna was sitting forward and vibrating with excitement.

While wanting to quietly strangle Edna, Lester was also interested in Donna's answer. He leaned forward, waiting for her response and picturing the scene.

Donna caught Lester's stare and flushed slightly. "A lot of people like to work sky clad, but it isn't obligatory."

"I could do that. I wouldn't mind."

And there it was again. A naked Edna invaded his mind's eye and sat there front and center. Grinning at him. He sighed inwardly; where was brain bleach when you needed it? Much more time in Edna's company and he was going to need therapy.

"Can I ask you about black magic?" he asked cautiously. "It's important."

Donna's brow furrowed slightly. "I'll answer as honestly as I can, but I won't teach you enough to do it."

"Trust me, this is strictly a rescue mission. We need to break a curse, not make one."

"Then ask. I've broken plenty of curses."

"Can _anyone_ turn people into other things? Say black witches, or maybe demon worshippers or voodoo priests?"

"Not as far as I know. Look, I think you need to tell me exactly what your problem actually is."

"You might not believe us."

"Try me," she challenged.

"Two of our friends have been turned into muppets, we think by a curse."

Donna stared at him for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. Heads turned towards them from the other tables.

"As far as I know, Jim Henson is neither a witch, a demon worshipper or a vodoun practitioner. You two need a Hollywood agent, not a witch, but thanks for the laugh. You just made my week."

She got up and walked out of the visitors' centre, still laughing and shaking her head.

Lester and Edna looked at each other.

"Fuck," Lester said. "Now what?"

_o0o o0o o0o_

They reviewed their options that evening at a steakhouse down the road from the hotel.

Lester tried not to watch Edna working pieces of steak out from behind her dentures with her tongue as he outlined the situation as he saw it. "So, nothing that Donna told us gave us a lead to follow up on. We're no further forward than before, so I see no point in staying out for the whole week." Plus if he spent a whole week with Edna, he'd probably never get it up ever again. It was definitely time to go back to base and fight Bobby for the office job. "We'll get some rest tonight, then fly back to Trenton in the morning. You know, they had soup on the menu. Why didn't you order something softer if steak gives you so much trouble?"

"I'm retired, not dead. I can eat steak, I just need to get rid of the fibers afterwards. Just look away if it bothers you so much."

He wished he could, but it was like watching a car wreck. You hated yourself for it, but you watched with a kind of horrified fascination, unable to tear your eyes away.

Edna pushed at the front of her denture plate with her tongue a couple of times before sucking at it loudly.

"Got it!" she announced, and took a large mouthful of wine, which she swilled around her denture plate before swallowing. "All clear. So shall we look at the dessert menu?"

The waitress put the check on the table at the end of dinner with a flirtatious wink and a little pat on his shoulder. He picked up the check and found a scrap of paper underneath it with a name and telephone number written on it. He turned to watch her sashay away from the table, and his groin stirred when he found her peeking over her shoulder at him as she walked.

"You go for it, hot stuff." Edna's cackle cut into his concentration.

And that was that. Dead in the water. For the third time. As soon as he pictured Grandma sucking her dentures on the other side of the wall in the hotel, all below the waist interest died. He couldn't have taken up the waitress's offer if he'd wanted to.

He wanted to cry. As it turned out, it wasn't just witches that could kill a man's virility stone dead. Wrinkled old ladies with knowing expressions could do the job just as well.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing__._

Shadow Puppets

Chapter 7

"Babe, the teams are both back early, we have a meeting here in–" Ranger stopped. "What happened to your eyes?"

"I needed mascara."

"But you're a puppet."

"Didn't you hear me? I _said_, I needed mascara."

"It just looks a little odd with the fuzzy look, and it's smudged."

Stephanie hauled him in by the front of his black tee-shirt until their noses were almost touching. "You try to apply mascara using these fingers. I'm warning you now, drop the subject. The mascara stays."

"Yes, Babe. Sorry, Babe."

Ranger's childhood opinions about Kermit the frog were changing fast now that he was nose to nose with his own puppet woman. Kermit was one brave fucking frog.

_o0o o0o o0o_

Tank, Bobby and Lester arrived on the hour and sat on the couch and one of the large leather chairs in the apartment. Ranger and Stephanie fit into the other chair together.

"Bomber, what happened to your–" Lester started, falling silent as Ranger fixed his gaze on him and fractionally shook his head.

"Report."

Tank started with his report. "We located an herb-woman in Boonton, about an hour from here. We have her contact details in case we need them in the future, but she was emphatic in her opinion that what we were describing wasn't possible."

Lester was nodding. "That's confirmed by the opinion that we got from the coven representative in Wisconsin. Not possible. It wasn't that she thought that it wasn't witchcraft that was responsible. She considered it to be just plain impossible."

"And yet here we sit," commented Ranger. "Bobby, anything to add?"

"The coven contact was reputable. She came by recommendation. And we've had no luck locating Bella Morelli in the meantime."

"So, we're no further forward," noted Ranger with displeasure. "No trace of the person responsible, no cure, in fact, no leads at all."

Tank nodded grimly. "We could look further on the voodoo angle. How about asking your Grandma Rosa if–"

"No," Ranger cut in. "Absolutely not."

"We're running out of options, man."

"My family doesn't find out about this. They do _not_ need to be involved."

"But–"

"_No_. Anybody who calls them will get hurt. Are we clear?"

"Then it looks like you're fu–"

Tank's cellphone rang. He looked at Ranger, who nodded at him, confirming that he should answer it.

"Talk."

"Tank, it's Hal. You're not going to believe who just walked into the building."

Morelli quietly escorted his grandmother into the living room where they were all still sitting. Tank vacated his armchair for her and took a position leaning against the wall with his arms folded instead. Morelli helped Bella sit in the chair and stood behind her with a hand laid protectively on her shoulder.

He caught sight of Stephanie's and Ranger's fuzzy puppet bodies where they sat side by side in the chair opposite. "Oh my God," he said quietly to no-one in particular. "What did she do?"

Bella looked up at him from her chair. "Joseph–"

"Just fix this, Grandma. Tell them what you can and help them fix this. I would never have wanted this to happen to her." He didn't take his eyes from Stephanie, who looked all around the room, anywhere but back at him.

Ranger noted the 'her' in that statement. He wouldn't have expected anything different.

Bella opened her mouth a few times before finally starting to speak. "I will help because Joseph asks it of me, and no other reason. When I saw my Joseph broken hearted after he caught this _puttana_–"

"Grandma!" Joe interrupted, warning in his tone. "Helping, remember?"

"–after he caught _Stephanie_ with this other one again and again, I was so angry, I swore that I would put the eye on both of them. That evening a woman came to me saying that she came with a gift from the ancient forests; that she also had the power, and we could work the eye together to make God help us make them regret their lying and cheating forever." She glared fiercely at the two puppets. "I just had to find them, the same way that I found him before…"

Stephanie turned and looked accusingly at Ranger, receiving just a puppet shrug in response.

"… and when I did I was to put the eye on both of them. She would lend me her own power and together we would punish them. They would never be able to cheat ever again. I don't know why this happened, but I can guess that they are not cheating." She shot a triumphant gaze at Stephanie and Ranger as she said it.

Ranger's hand flexed unconsciously near his gun, and Bella gave him a smile that was more like a baring of teeth.

"I have never met her before, and she didn't give me her name. I didn't need it. The power that she brought was enough."

Bella glared around her as she finished, daring anyone to say anything. They just regarded her silently.

"Grandma, what have you done?" Morelli's whisper seemed louder as it fell into the silence.

"I did God's work! I struck down sinners with his power."

"Doesn't sound like God to me," Bobby said. "Sounds to me like you made a deal with something that came out of the woods and told you what you wanted to hear. Look at them, does that look like God's work to you?"

"It was my right! I was born with the eye. It was my power to use."

"All of it?"

Bella looked closely at the two puppets sharing a chair, puppets that used to be people. She sagged in her chair, suddenly just a tired old woman as triumph gave way to realization. "Oh my God, Joseph, what have I done?"

Morelli crouched next to the armchair and put his arms around her. "I'll fix it. I promise."

He helped her to her feet before walking her slowly to the door and out. He turned back to the room at large before he followed her. "I'm going to take my grandmother to Father Carolli, and then I'll be back. We need to talk about what happens next."

"No," Ranger objected. "We'll deal with it."

"Wrong. I'm involved now. I promised my grandmother I'd fix it and I will. You just got yourself a detective on the case."

He looked at Stephanie with an unreadable expression before closing the apartment door behind him.

_o0o o0o o0o_

"I hate this. Lula's involved. Joe's involved. Even my freaking grandmother is involved, and I'm stuck in this freaking apartment. I can't even comfort eat."

Stephanie was pacing a circle in the carpet in the apartment living room, and looking up to glare occasionally at Ranger where he sat at the table with a laptop computer. "Are you managing to type or are you just looking for a way to ignore me?"

"I'm managing, and we don't know about the eating question yet. We might be stuck like this for a while, so we should start to find out what these bodies can and can't do. I asked Ella to arrange something soft for us to try. She'll be here any time now."

Ella bustled in holding a large dish with the aid of oven gloves. A serving spoon was sticking out of the top. "Here we are, lovely rice pudding for you both."

Ranger regarded her flatly. "Ella, you know I don't eat dessert."

"Oh, now don't be silly. Everybody loves rice pudding," Ella said briskly. "It's full of things that are good for you. If you're good I'll even stir some jelly into it for you."

Ranger continued to stare at her in silence.

Horror chased comprehension across Ella's face as she realized what she had just said to her employer. "Oh my… I'm so sorry." She put the dish on the counter and hurried out of the apartment.

"Ella, wait!" Stephanie called after her, "I want jelly."

"We're small, Steph, not children."

She turned round slowly to glare at Ranger. "Excuse me?"

Ranger sighed. "I'll ask Ella to bring the jelly up."


	8. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing__._

Shadow Puppets

Chapter 8

"This is it." Lester pointed to an area of dirt at the side of the road just outside the Red Lion town limits. It was full of ruts and tire tracks, and a muddy Land Rover was parked at one end.

Tank pulled the SUV in to a stop behind it and cut the engine. "Let's go."

Tank, Lester and Morelli climbed out of the SUV and walked around to the back, where Tank lifted the tailgate for them to each pull out a large framed backpack and rain gear. They carefully checked over their pack contents before slinging them onto their backs, locking up the SUV and walking back along the road toward a marked trail that led away into the forest.

"This is some weird fucking shit, man," Lester said as he stood at the head of the trail where it disappeared into the thick gloom under the tree canopy.

Tank nodded grimly, settling the pack more comfortably on his back. "But it's the best we've got. Let's move out."

The three men disappeared into the forest.

_o0o o0o o0o_

"That was it! There! On the left, you missed it. Stop stop stop. Back up."

"Shut up, Edna. I can't concentrate with you jumpin' around like that." Lula stopped her red Firebird in the middle of the deserted road and threw it into reverse, the rear of the car fishtailing from side to side as she backed up quickly before any other cars came along. She pulled up on the side of the road behind the black RangeMan SUV.

"That's them, but I don't see no sign or no gift shop. Hell, there ain't even a proper parking lot. This is way too much like the country for me."

"Don't you quit on me now, Lula. We have to catch them up. There's no way I'm being left behind and missing out on all the excitement."

"Okay, I hear you, keep your panties on. We can't be more than an hour behind, but as soon as we find them, I'm outta here. I don't know shit about no primeval forest or no witches. I'll be more use back in Trenton where I don't need to wear an ugly-ass plastic coat or boots that make me look like a man."

Lula looked ruefully at her shiny white cross-trainers. "Brand new and I'm visitin' a swamp. This ain't right."

Edna fished her brown-bagged lunch and a red vinyl rain poncho out from the footwell by her sneakered feet and jumped out of the Firebird. "I saw the trail back there; come on." She walked up the road and disappeared into the trees.

"Wait up. I'm coming."

_o0o o0o o0o_

"GPS just failed," Lester reported. "The tree canopy's too dense for the satellites."

"It doesn't matter," Tank said, turning in a slow circle to scan the gloom of the forest all around them. "Come on, you bitch," he murmured. "You know we're here. Come and get us."

He spotted a small deer path cutting across the main trail, a barely visible impression in the thick greenery covering the ground. "We need to get off the main trail. Hikers use this path all the time. We ain't out of our territory and into hers yet."

He was running on gut instinct, pure and simple. How did he find the hedge-witch, Milly? Answer: he didn't. You won't find the witch. Let her find you.

He pulled a short machete from his pack and started widening the trail to force a way through. Lester and Morelli followed suit, and they started cutting in towards the heart of the primeval forest.

_o0o o0o o0o_

Tank looked back over his shoulder to check on Morelli. He was forcing his way though the dense undergrowth without complaint, but his movements were becoming labored and his face was shining with sweat, as Lester's and Tank's own were. Mosquitos whined around the three of them looking for exposed skin to land on, and the boggy ground sucked at their boots with every step.

When he found a small clearing where a tree had fallen he declared a rest stop. "Halt. Let's take a break here."

Tank watched Morelli discreetly as he sat on a large log and wiped the sweat from his face before taking a long pull at his water bottle.

He had to hand it to the cop; he was good. Within three days of forcing himself into the mission, he had come up with the first real, solid lead for them.

Helen Silverlock's1 paper about Ryhope Wood and the interconnection of the world's primeval forests may have gotten her laughed out of her research position, and maybe she was now barely scratching a living around the edges of the New Age movement, but when Morelli had interviewed her she had stood by every word. According to her story she had used the primeval forest at Ryhope to find and fight the mythical Trickster made flesh and lift his curse on her family, and she had won. If she believed it, it was a good enough place to start, because if her story was true, she held the key to a world where they could find their real-life wicked witch.

That lead alone would have forced Tank to respect Morelli, but now this city-bred cop was pushing doggedly through the wildwood beside two seasoned soldiers without complaint, just grim determination. He had taught himself how to cut a path with the machete just by watching them. His first few minutes had been painful to watch, but now he was swinging the vicious blade with skill and economy, although his shoulder had to be in agony by now. As far as Tank was concerned, Morelli was wasted on the Trenton Police Department.

"Let's move on."

The three men stood up and pushed further into the forest.

_o0o o0o o0o_

"Stop!"

Edna's shrill voice jolted Lula out of her dogged, head-down plod along the trail. She stopped, keeping her eyes fixed on the trail in front of her. "What?"

"I don't know. Just something."

"Are you shittin' me?"

Edna glared at her. "After everything you've seen, humor an old lady and let me think for a minute."

Edna turned to look at the forest on either side of the trail before moving to an opening in the thick undergrowth. "Here. They went this way."

"How'd you know that? There's been a couple of other trails coming off this one."

"I just know. Hungarian gypsy genes, remember?" Edna pushed through the newly cut gap and disappeared in a flash of red vinyl.

"That old lady's startin' to give me the creeps too," Lula muttered to herself as she followed her through the gap.

Lula had done a good job of ignoring her surroundings until now, just concentrating on placing one sneakered foot in front of the other. It was just a path. The ferns could be next to the pool in an upmarket spa. The ridiculous chatter of the birds could have been in the zoo or a local park, and there _were_ no wild animals. If she couldn't see them, they weren't there. Easy. _Just look at the path, Lula. Watch your feet. One, two, one, two. Easy. You could be anywhere._

But now the forest closed itself around them and forced itself into her vision, unwanted.

"Oh my Lord," she murmured as the sheer scale of the forest drew her eyes upwards.

Huge black gum and swamp magnolia trees dwarfed them on all sides, reaching up and clawing at a sky that was almost lost to view behind a dense canopy that shivered where high breezes made the leaves dance. Most of the light was provided by occasional clearings where these giants had fallen and lay dead on the ground. Holly trees formed darker pockets, thick and impenetrable with their prickly, glossy leaves, and straggly bushes and leggy saplings stole whatever light remained to form a barrier that they would have to push through.

Even the bodies of the fallen trees were a riot of vegetable life. Brightly colored fungi bracketed the rotting wood in places and rich green moss swathed the rest, forming hummocks that looked like burial mounds for the fallen giants. Cinnamon ferns formed a rich green carpet under the trees as far as the eye could see, interspersed with pretty white fly poison flowers.

It was as beautiful as it was overwhelming.

Once Lula's eyes were truly opened to her surroundings, her other senses clamored for attention. She could hear the whine of countless insects drawn by their sweat, and the chattering of birds and squirrels in the canopy. The fresh, green odor of leaves and humus overlay everything, strong but not unpleasant.

"I guess we really ain't in Trenton any more, are we?… Edna? Edna! Wait up!"

Lula's awe was quickly shelved in favor of the urgent need to catch up with the only other human being visible in this other world, who was currently picking her way though the wilderness following a path of cut undergrowth and trampled ferns.

_o0o o0o o0o_

"Tank! To the right."

Tank turned in the direction that Morelli had indicated. "Damn."

An ancient oak tree sat in its own clearing, so dark and heavy that the only things living under it were a few straggly ferns. A series of tiny bird and animal skulls were suspended from its lower branches and carved masks stared out sightlessly from its gnarled, ancient trunk.

"I think we're on the right track. What did Helen Silverlock say about when we reached it?" Tank asked Morelli.

"She said they were two days in Ryhope before they started to encounter anything unexpected."

"Then we set up camp as soon as we find somewhere dry enough. Let's move on."

_o0o o0o o0o_

They found a reasonably dry, flat spot in the lee of one of the large rocks that scattered the area. The ground had gradually dried out as they had travelled, and the thick coating of swamp mud that covered their boots and reached their knees was gradually starting to dry up and crumble away.

Tank was relieved that they weren't going to have to camp in swamp conditions, but concerned that they didn't know anything about the wildlife in this otherworld forest. For all he knew, there were saber-tooth tigers around the next bend. There were no caves to be found, so he'd have to settle for having his back up against a big rock. After that, all they could do was set a watch and keep weapons handy. He comforted himself with the fact that the last time men faced saber-toothed tigers, they didn't have automatic weapons.

They were clearing stones and branches from the ground when there was a loud crack of a branch snapping somewhere to their left. Something exploded out of the ground cover, and in an instant all three men had their guns out and firing. It fell back into the ferns and was lost to view.

They stopped firing and waited for signs of movement.

Finally Lester walked over cautiously and inspected whatever it was that they had brought down. "Well, there's some good news and some bad news."

"What?"

"The good news is, it's not a saber-toothed tiger." He lifted a tattered bundle of brownish feathers above his head for them to see. "The bad news is, I doubt if we can find a mouthful that isn't full of lead. We've still got trail rations for dinner."

Tank shook his head in disgust. "You'd better bury that thing. I don't want anything sniffing around here tonight."

Lester eyed the carcass in his hands sadly. "Well, at least you get an honorable burial, my friend. Would it help if I told you we were a little on edge?"

A shrill female voice came from the nearby trees. "Can we come out now?"

They all recognized that voice, and Tank and Morelli lowered their weapons immediately. Lester, on the other hand, whimpered slightly and his posture shifted from confident warrior to hunted herbivore as he hugged his gun tightly to him.

A familiar hunched body covered in a shiny red rain poncho emerged from the trees, grinning happily. She was caked with swamp mud to the knees, and more mud was spattered across the front of the poncho.

Morelli was the first to speak. "Grandma, what the hell are you doing here?"

"You didn't think I was going to miss all the excitement did you? Did you see that tree with all the masks? Isn't that a pip?"

"But how did you find us?"

"It was easy, you left a trail a mile wide. Of course, I didn't think it would take so long. We've been following you for hours."

"We?" Tank cut in.

"Lula brought me. Where is she? Lula?" Edna spun and looked back in the direction she had come from.

Lula's muffled voice filtered out from the trees. "I ain't comin' out till somebody tells me all the guns are gone."

Tank put his gun on the ground and strode out in the direction that Lula's voice had come from. He found her face down in the ferns with both hands over her head and her eyes tightly closed. He reached down and lifted her to her feet before squeezing her in a bear hug.

"You are as crazy as that old bat you brought with you, and don't ever do that again. I could have shot you."

"Why do you think I was down there?" she asked as she brushed at the mud and leaves that coated the front of her clothes. "You think I just decided that a coating of swamp mud would help this outfit? God damn, this shit ain't never gonna come off."

A single shot rang out and Tank dived to the ground, pinning Lula beneath him and covering her body with his own.

They both lay still on the boggy ground, holding their breath.

"Report!" Tank yelled after a moment.

"Sorry, boss. All clear."

"I'm going to kill Lester," Tank growled as he got to his feet.

"Get in line," Lula answered grimly as she shouldered past him.

Tank followed in his girlfriend's wake as she went looking for the unfortunate Lester.

"Hey, you! The asshole with the gun! Are you tryin' to perforate my ass, you idiot? What the _hell_ are you playin' at? You see these jeans? Do they look clean to you? Do you see any other clean clothes for me around here? So help me, if I see that goddamn gun pointed in my direction I'm gonna take it and shove it up your ass…"

Tank smiled to himself. Love her he might, but it was always good to see Lula's temper directed at some other poor fool instead of himself.

Lester was grinning triumphantly despite the torrent of abuse pouring in his direction as he emerged from the woods in the other direction.

"Chill out, I got us dinner."

He lifted his hand to show another limp bundle of feathers. This one, though, looked a little more intact than their first unintentional victim.

Lula looked at his prize, unimpressed. "When it's got a crispy coatin' and fries sittin' next to it, then it's dinner. Right now it's just a sorry-assed bunch of feathers.

Tank summed his feelings up in three words. "You're cleaning it."

"But I did the hardest–" Lester started to object, before catching Tank's raised eyebrow. "Yes, boss."

"You two can go ahead and eat that sorry bag of feathers if you want. I'm outta here anyway. I said I'd bring Edna here, that's all. I ain't stayin' here with all the wild animals. I'm goin' home." Lula started walking back into the woods.

"Lu, wait!" Tank followed her. "You won't get back before dark."

She stopped.

"You need to stay here tonight. We'll take you back in the morning."

Lula turned back towards him but didn't return, and her voice contained a panicky edge. "You don't get it. I don't camp. I was never a girl scout. I ain't even been in the country before. You gotta take me back tonight."

"Not in the dark. It's too dangerous. You stay here until morning."

She returned reluctantly, walking like she expected to see the firing squad at any minute. "There's animals and shit out here."

"They won't come near the fire. You'll be safe. Come on."

"I ain't eatin' Lester's bird."

"We have other food."

Finally Lula reached the others again. Tank took her hand reassuringly.

"This is going to be so much _fun_," Edna declared. "We can sit around the fire and play truth or dare. I can think of some great dares."

Lester's shoulders stiffened and feathers flew into the air as he started cleaning his bird with sudden intensity.

_o0o o0o o0o_

"How are we all gonna fit into those?" Lula asked Tank as she looked dubiously at the pair of small two-man tents. "No way they're big enough for all of us."

"You and Edna will take two of the sleeping bags. Two of us will take the spare blankets and sleep out here."

"No!"

He looked at her curiously.

"I can't sleep on my own. There's _things_ out there. I can hear them movin' around."

"We'll have a watch posted."

"Please." Her voice carried a slight tremor.

"You're really afraid," he said softly.

"I ain't afraid of nothin'," she snapped, showing a spark of the old Lula. "I just don't like all the noises. They ain't natural."

Tank thought about pointing out that they were more natural than the city, but thought better of it. "Then we'll figure something out."

"So who do I get to share a sleeping bag with? My partner?" Edna asked excitedly.

Lester shook his head frantically behind her back and mimed putting a gun to his head and pulling the trigger, closely followed by pulling an imaginary noose tight around his neck.

Tank hid a laugh. "You get a sleeping bag all to yourself, Mrs M. We're posting a watch, so we'll be able to share."

"I'll take first watch," Lester jumped in.

Tank nodded agreement and tried not to smile. He'd bet his blankets that Lester wanted to make sure that Edna was asleep before him just in case she decided to crawl into his sleeping bag anyway.

"I'll take the next," Morelli volunteered.

"Fine. I'll cover the last one."

_o0o o0o o0o_

Tank took one of the sleeping pads and all the spare blankets into one of the tents for himself and Lula, leaving the better insulated sleeping bags for the lone sleepers. Morelli and Edna took the other tent, leaving Lester to sit by the fire on first watch.

Tank gave Lula a couple of minutes to get settled in the tiny tent before joining her in the nest of blankets. She immediately snuggled up to him the way she always did, as though she couldn't bear the idea of air between them.

"You okay?" he whispered.

"I will be." She reached out and trailed a manicured fingernail down his back and across his ass. It had its usual, immediate effect on him, and he felt himself stiffen.

"Bad idea, Lu," he whispered reluctantly. "Lester's about ten feet away."

"He won't care, and neither would you normally. What's the problem?"

"We're in the middle of the forest hunting for an unknown threat. That's the problem."

"Bullshit," she hissed. "Seems to me like this is our first time since meetin' that herb-woman, and surprise, you don't want me. You promised. You promised me that I could keep my choices. You make them for me and Ramirez might as well have killed me."

"That ain't the reason."

"Like hell it ain't." She rolled away to face in the opposite direction and curled up into a tight ball.

Tank growled under his breath and dragged her back against him. She resisted him for long minutes until the chill of the night air finally drove her back for warmth and comfort.

Author's note:

Bear Swamp is an actual piece of primeval forest located in New Jersey.

nj.gov/dep/njnlt/bearswamp.htm

query./gst/fullpage.html?res9C00EED71039F935A1575AC0A9649C8B63

1 The Hollowing, Robert Holdstock, 1994


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing__._

Shadow Puppets

Chapter 9

Stephanie put her head round the door of the small office in the seventh floor apartment. "Ranger! Ella's here with the clothes."

"Finally." Ranger slammed the top of the laptop down and sprang down from the chair. "Let's take a look."

He followed her out to the lounge, where Bobby was opening a large cardboard box with a pocket knife.

"Where's Ella?" Stephanie asked. "She was just here."

Bobby shrugged. "Said she had to get on with the sandwiches. You need me for anything, boss?"

"No. We'll take it from here."

Bobby took a quick look in the box and dropped the lid shut quickly. "Well, I'm out of here. I was just carrying the box for Ella anyway." He left the apartment at a fast walk, turning toward the fire stairs just as the door swung shut.

"Where's the fire?" Stephanie asked.

Ranger just shrugged and opened the box. He pulled out the first few items and stared at them before throwing them back in the box and reaching for his phone. He paced the apartment as he made the call, trying to vent some of his frustration in the movement.

"Ella," he said in a dangerously quiet voice, "would you care to explain why the shirts you just brought me have Spiderman on the front? And why Steph has Dora the Explorer on hers?" He spun to watch Stephanie's face as she raked through the contents of the box pulling out items. "No, I can safely say that she's not happy about it either. What exactly did you put on the order?… Well send these back and find something else…. No! Not even temporarily…. Well if they can't do it today then go to the mall yourself and try to find something better than these. Bobby will take you…. I don't care about the sandwiches. Order them in and charge it to RangeMan."

He ended the call and threw the phone at the couch before walking back over to Stephanie. She was vehemently throwing items of brightly colored girl's clothing back into the box one by one.

She looked up at him with tears of frustration in the corners of her eyes. "Spangles. They have fricking spangles on them. And cartoon characters. Look." She threw a lemon yellow tank top at him. "It's got My Little fucking Pony on it. And a rainbow. I thought we were getting proper clothes again when these arrived. Don't I get to keep a shred of dignity?"

She screamed with irritation and threw a pair of pink, spangled pants across the room.

"Ella's going out to get us something else. It won't be much longer. Just try to stay calm, Babe."

"I tried to call Lula earlier to see if she'd heard from Tank. Her phone goes straight to voicemail. My Grandma's not around either. Mom called to ask if I knew where she was."

He put an arm around her. "I'll send Hal out to check on them. And don't worry about the guys. Tank and Lester are as good as it gets, and Morelli has good instincts."

"I don't like that we can't reach them."

"There could be any number of reasons for that."

"I just wish we knew where they were."

_o0o o0o o0o o0o o0o_

Lula was awakened by what felt like every bird in New Jersey singing directly above her head. "God _damn_. What the hell is goin' on?" She dragged her jeans on and her tee-shirt over her head and poked her head out of the tent.

Tank was sitting like a carved mahogany statue beside the dying embers of the fire, seemingly oblivious to the cacophony of shrieks and chirps coming from the forest canopy. Lester was curled up asleep in a sleeping bag a short distance away from the fire. She couldn't see Edna or Morelli, but either they weren't far or someone was using a buzz saw in the other tent.

Lula looked up over her head expecting to see hundreds of birds flying around in the grayish half-light. She couldn't see any. "Where the hell are they all?"

"What?" Tank asked quietly.

"All the damn birds. And how am I supposed to get my beauty sleep with all this racket?"

He shrugged. "Early yet. Go back to bed."

"I can't."

"Then stay."

She sat down across the fire from him and stared into the sullen glow of the fire as it turned slowly to ash. Occasionally some of the embers would collapse and a shower of sparks would shoot into the air like tiny fireworks. She started to flick tiny twigs onto the fire to burn and watch the tiny yellow flames dance then die.

"What's wrong, Lu?" Tank's voice broke into her reverie.

"My man don't want me no more." She carried on staring into the fire.

"You know I do. And that ain't it, not all of it anyway."

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"I do."

"Tellin' me what to do, is that the way it's gonna be from now on? You gonna start bein' like every other man I ever knew before? I liked it better when you didn't talk."

"Quit trying to sell that crap to me, Lu. I ain't buying. And there ain't nobody else awake to pretend to."

She sagged. "Get the hell out of my head, Tank. I don't want you there. Go back to bein' the silent type."

"Why? Is it so bad in there?"

"Worse that you could ever imagine," she said dully.

"Tell me."

She didn't want to. She desperately didn't want to, but he just watched her from the other side of the fire as though he could sit there for eternity and wait for her answer. And the damn birds screeched and sang in the trees as if to mock her: _Listen to us, we can talk. We talk, we sing, we cry and the world listens to us._

And then she was talking, slowly, reluctantly. "I thought I got away. Steph saved me and gave me this whole new life and I thought I was free. We were this duo of kick-ass girl bounty hunters, like superheroes. Wasn't nothing could stop us. And now she's just this little doll made of felt. Just like that. She just woke up one mornin' and it was all gone. What if it's all just gone tomorrow? What if I wake up tomorrow and some witch decides I got to be a ho again?" Tears stung her eyes. "I can't do that again. I can't walk that damn corner till my feet hurt hopin' that the next john won't give me AIDS or decide to rearrange my face cause he had a fight with his wife, or cut me up inside like Ramirez. I'm so scared, Tank."

She looked up at the tree canopy. "And I hate those fucking birds."

He got up and walked around the fire to join her. He slung his arm around her and pulled her close. "You are never going back. Trust me. I swear to you we will fix this. The birds, you're going to have to live with until we get you back to Trenton."

She gave a laugh that was half a sob and leaned into him gratefully. They fed the fire little twigs and watched the flames together while they waited for dawn.

_o0o o0o o0o_

Tank got up and started to move around while the sky was still gray. "Time to start getting ready to leave."

Lula got up too, and stretched. "I'm hungry. And don't offer me no more of Lester's bird, neither. I never believed the stories about you army guys eatin' anythin' till now."

"I heard that," Lester said without opening his eyes. "Now that's what I call ungrateful."

Tank nodded at a bag hanging from the branches of a nearby tree. "See what you can find."

Lula took down the bag and rummaged through it, pulling out a packet of crackers. She sat down again and chewed them slowly as she watched the dawn gradually filter through the canopy and the forest slowly regain its brilliant green tones. "I ain't never seen a sunrise before. It's pretty." She glared up at the canopy, "And noisy."

Tank threw an armful of branches onto the fire and retrieved the water container. "We'll take you back to the main trail after breakfast." He nudged Lester with the toe of his boot. "Wake up, sleeping beauty, before Edna tries to wake you with a kiss."

Lester's eyes snapped open. "I'm awake. I'm definitely awake."

_o0o o0o o0o_

"But I don't see why I have to go back with Lula," Edna objected as they followed the trail of crushed ferns and cut branches back the way they had come. "You might need my special talents."

"It isn't safe, Grandma. We're hunting for a witch. Anything could happen," Morelli answered. "You don't want to be turned into a muppet too, do you?"

"Well–"

"It isn't negotiable," Tank cut in. "You're going back to Trenton with Lula."

Edna looked mutinous but kept walking.

They reached the mask tree within an hour of walking and kept going. Lula felt like the eyes of the carved faces were boring into her back as they passed and she concentrated on the path ahead of them, trying not to meet their imaginary eyes. The trail that they had created with their passage the day before was clear and straight; they hadn't been trying to cover their tracks and they had cut a broad swathe through the undergrowth. There was no danger of getting lost.

_o0o o0o o0o_

After another hour, Lula was dripping with perspiration and mud was dragging at her cross-trainers with every step. She could feel a trickle of sweat making its way down between the cheeks of her ass and she was fighting the urge to stick her hand down her pants and brush it away.

"Damn it, how much further is it?" she griped. "I swear it was easier yesterday."

"Should be a couple more hours," Morelli answered. "We're moving faster than yesterday with the trail already cut."

"What's that big tree up ahead? I don't remember seein' two of them yesterday."

"I have a bad feeling about this," Lester murmured as they moved closer.

It was the mask tree again. Lula recognised the carved faces and the tiny bird skulls. Although after this morning's wake up call, she had some sympathy with whoever had strung the skulls up. She would have done the same if she could have caught the noisy little bastards. "God damn it, we've already been here once. You ain't tellin' me there's two of these creepy fuckers out here?"

"Not possible," Tank said flatly. "We've been following our trail from yesterday, and we've been heading due east the whole time."

"Yeah, I know, and you guys are hot shit trackers and all. Even so – scary tree again. I say we been here before. If that's okay with you, of course, kemo sabe."

Edna was prowling around the trunk of the tree looking at the carved faces. "She's right. Here's the one that looks like my Harry, God rest his soul. I recognized that constipated expression right away when I looked at it yesterday. I swear, that man got bound up for weeks at a time. Made my life hell when he couldn't go. He used to say to me, 'Edna, please, just get your finger and help–"

"Enough," Tank said. "We keep walking."

"Amen to that," Lester added, and followed Tank as he continued along the arrow-straight trail.

_o0o o0o o0o_

An hour later an ominously familiar shape appeared in front of them.

"Come on then, Ace," Lula challenged Tank. "Wanna tell me it's a different tree again this time?"

"Fuck."

"You got that right," Lester said grimly. "Something's seriously fucked up here."

"Here's my Harry again," Edna announced. "I think we need to face facts, gentlemen. I don't think we're going to be allowed to leave."

Morelli looked grim and moved a little closer to her.

"Oh, stop fussing, Joseph, I'll be fine. You don't need to make a point of protecting me. But it looks as if you're stuck with us girls." She looked delighted with the fact.

"No," Lula said sharply. "Forget it. I ain't stayin'."

"She's right, Lu. We ain't got a choice," Tank said.

"No, you're just a sucky tracker. You're takin' us round in circles." Panic put an edge in Lula's voice.

"He's not, Lula. He's good. And so am I. We've both done this plenty of times. " Lester's voice was calm, his face carefully blank.

"But–" Lula looked round at each member of the group for support, and found none. Sympathy, yes, plus excitement from Edna, but just stoic determination from each of the men, including Morelli.

Realizing that they really didn't have any other choices, she did her best to compose herself. "Then I guess we're turnin' round."

_o0o o0o o0o_

As soon as they started to re-trace their steps, the going seemed to get easier. The ground gradually started to dry out and get less boggy and the undergrowth seemed to thin out. They passed their campsite in what felt like no time at all, and pressed on into unfamiliar territory. The men pulled out their machetes again and started cutting a new path through the undergrowth.

After a while, the black gums and swamp magnolias petered out, leaving them surrounded by oak and elm trees instead, and patches of thin straggly grass started to replace the cinnamon ferns under the largest trees. They needed the machetes less and less as they progressed, and soon they were able to pick a winding trail without cutting anything at all. The party gradually strung out in a long line as they made their way across the open areas of the forest floor.

Clumps of nodding bluebells started to appear under the trees, growing together until they walked across a brilliant blue carpet.

"Wrong season," Lester observed to Tank, who nodded silently.

Edna had forged ahead and was skipping delightedly across the landscape despite the soft drizzling rain that had started to fall. The rain had washed the mud from her rain poncho and now it was a vivid splash of scarlet against the backdrop of soft blues and greens that surrounded her.

Lula whirled as a barely seen shape flitted through the trees to the side of them. "Did you see that?"

Tank pushed Lula behind him and drew his gun. "Edna!" he called, "Get back here."

"I'm fine. Relax," she called. "This is more like a park now than a forest anyway. Look at this enormous tree. How old do you think it is?"

She darted behind the huge fallen oak and disappeared.

"God damned crazy old ladies with no sense of safety. Lester, cover me!" Tank took off at a run in the direction that Edna had taken.

Lester followed him, gun drawn as well, and the two men disappeared around the end of the fallen tree.

Morelli and Lula looked at each other, drew their own guns and followed.

As they rounded the tree, a low, rumbling growl sounded ahead of them, and Lula's stomach turned over.

Edna was standing perfectly still in front of an enormous timber wolf, which was snarling at her through bared teeth. Tank and Lester were standing behind her, both guns trained on it.

"Edna," Tank said quietly. "Step back towards me, slowly and carefully."

"Relax, it's just a coyote. I must have startled it. It's fine."

"Edna, that is a wolf. Now walk this way. _Slowly_."

"It can't be a wolf. There haven't been wolves in New Jersey for over a hundred years. That's a coyote."

"Edna, he's right," Lester said. "You need to walk back towards us, now."

"Oh please, I'm willing to bet that the last time any of you saw a coyote it was on the back of a rocket trying to catch Roadrunner. You all need to stop worrying about nothing. Look."

To Lula's horror, Edna reached out and clapped her hands sharply in the creature's face. "Shoo! Scat!"

The wolf's jaws opened even wider and it gave another deep, rumbling growl. It had a rhythmic quality that reminded Lula of laughter. And then it spoke.

"Better listen to them, little one. Time to run."

"Oh, holy crap," Lula murmured weakly. "Tell me it didn't just talk."

Tank didn't miss a beat. "Step the fuck away from her, furbag."

The wolf bared its teeth at him and howled. The sound curled around them, and Lula felt her legs turn to water. She steadied her hands on her gun and fought the urge to bolt.

Tank kept absolutely still, weapon trained on the wolf. "Hold your positions. Nobody runs."

The wolf took a step closer to Edna. "Say it."

"I don't know what you mean."

All the hair stood up in a ridge on the wolf's back, and it howled again. "You know_. SAY IT._"

"Oh, Grandmother," Lula recited in a quavering voice, and it swung towards her.

"Yessss. Say it."

She closed her eyes, praying that she wasn't signing Edna's death warrant. "Oh Grandmother, what big eyes you have. Guys, somebody think of something, quick."

"Edna, for the love of God, step away now," Tank said urgently.

"All the better to see you with," the wolf rumbled, and it took a step closer to Edna.

"Oh, Grandmother, what big ears you have. Jesus." Lula could hardly bear to look.

"Edna! _Now,_" Tank hissed.

"All the better to hear you with." The wolf took another step closer.

Lula tried not to look at the saliva dripping from its jaws. "Christ, somebody better have a plan here. Oh, Grandmother–"

"Eat lead!" Edna announced triumphantly as she produced a gun from under her rain poncho. She took a wild potshot at the wolf slavering a few feet away from her. The bullet nicked its ear and it shrieked and turned away. She followed it up with another bullet into its unprotected rear, and the wolf screamed and bounded away into the woods, leaving a trail of blood across the bluebells.

Edna blew across the top of her handgun like a wild west gunslinger before stuffing it back under her rain poncho. "Don't mess with the Grandma." She turned to look at where Tank, Lester and Morelli were gradually lowering their weapons with shaking hands. "Something wrong, gentlemen?"

Tank leaned against the fallen tree and breathed deeply, wiping the cold sweat out of his eyes along with the drizzling rain. "Jesus wept. Something wrong? Where do I start?"


	10. Chapter 10

Shadow Puppets chapter 10

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing__._

Shadow Puppets

Chapter 10

"Mom, please, just stop and listen to me for a second.… Mom! Stop…. Of course I care that she's missing. I'm trying to find her. I have friends out looking for her as well…. No I can't come round, I'm stuck somewhere…. No, I'm fine…. I. Am. Fine…. Yes. Is that a bottle I can hear?… Okay, sorry, just forget I asked…. Yeah, I promise. Bye Mom."

Stephanie put the phone down, scrambled down from the couch and renewed her pacing around the living room of the seventh floor apartment. "My Grandma's still missing. Mom's going crazy."

"We'll find her," Ranger said.

"I'm scared. Do you really think she might have followed the guys?"

"We found Lula's car parked behind Tank's at the entrance to the trail. I'm willing to bet that your Grandma's with her. We'll find out."

"You mean your men will find out while we carry on hiding in your apartment."

"Yes," Ranger said levelly.

"That sucks."

Her constant pacing was starting to grate on his nerves and it put an unwanted edge into his voice. "Where else would you suggest? Pino's? The mall?"

Stephanie threw her hands up in the air. "All right. I'm _sorry_. I get it. I'm just worried." She dialed Lula's number for the tenth time that day. "It's still going to voicemail. She always has her phone with her. Always."

"I'm sure she's fine."

"Nothing about this is fine. Doesn't any of this bother you?"

"Worry is unproductive. We'll do what needs to be done."

"Oh, well I'd hate to think that my feelings were being _unproductive_."

Ranger started to grind his teeth together before he remembered that he didn't have any anymore. "You need to try to stay calm. Over-reacting isn't going to help."

"Fuck you, Ranger." Stephanie stormed over to the front door, heaved at it until a small gap opened and disappeared out of the apartment.

"Shit." Ranger dialed Bobby on his cell. "Steph just ran out of the apartment. Check the cameras and tell me where she goes. Don't let her leave."

_o0o o0o o0o_

He found Stephanie sitting on the roof parapet of the RangeMan building with her legs dangling over the edge. He walked over to her and leaned on the wall. At his reduced height he could just about see over the edge to the street below.

"I need a donut," she said.

"I know."

"I bet you just wish you could eat a nice crunchy salad."

Ranger was silent.

"With extra radishes."

He ignored the barb. She probably thought he wouldn't even get the Fraggle Rock reference.

When he didn't rise to the bait she started watching the street below instead. People walked on the sidewalk in a constant Brownian motion of human activity, coming and going, walking in and out of buildings, occasionally crossing between the toy cars that passed, all of them completely unaware of anything going on above their heads. "They look like ants," she murmured.

"They do."

"I was just wondering what would happen if I fell. Would it kill me? Would I just be some kid's toy dropped on the sidewalk?"

"I'm sorry, Babe."

"What for?"

"This." He seized a handful of the long dark wool that fell down her back and dragged her backwards, down off the parapet and across the rooftop toward the access door.

"What the fuck are you doing? What are you, a three foot high caveman? Let me go!"

He threw her through the open door and, straining, heaved it closed behind them. When the safety bar finally engaged he let his back slide down the door until he sat on the floor leaning against it.

Stephanie came at him in a towering rage, dark wool flying and fists swinging. "What, am I the only one left you can overpower? Are you missing being a badass that much? You lousy, bullying son of a bitch."

He ignored the rain of weightless blows that landed around his head and shoulders. "Go ahead and hate me," he said roughly. "Just don't jump. I don't want to find out if you'd survive or not."

She faltered, and the flurry of slaps and punches slowed until finally they stopped altogether. She sat on the floor next to him, closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the door.

"I'm so scared. They're out of contact, and I'm scared for Lula and my Grandma, and Mom keeps calling me, and I'm tired of lying to her about knowing where Grandma is and why I can't come over, and I'm just _tired_. I want this to be over."

He knew she was breaking. A few days ago she was handling this, the way she handled all the shit that overwhelmed her life on a regular basis. She could handle anything until her Grandma and Lula disappeared. He wondered what the hell he should do with her until the team reported back.

For now, he settled for pulling her close. "It'll be okay. They're with Tank, and that means they're as safe as anyone can be."

_o0o o0o o0o o0o o0o_

Edna was with Tank, but Lula wasn't nearly as confident of her safety as Ranger was. He still hadn't forgiven the old woman for the wolf incident and was steadfastly ignoring her. Lester was still talking to her, just about, but Lula suspected that that was down to his naturally sunny disposition rather than him approving of Edna staring down a talking timber wolf. She also noticed that Morelli always just happened to be walking between Edna and Tank. She didn't doubt for a second that he was keeping himself strategically placed between Edna and Tank's simmering anger, just in case.

The overall mood couldn't have been more different to their surroundings as they picked their way through the woodland. The landscape was continuing its transition from forest to parkland, and they were currently following a small path that wound its way through a thick carpet of tiny white flowers. There had been no more wolves, talking or otherwise, and Lula might even have started to enjoy herself if she hadn't been primed to bolt at the arrival of another talking predator.

Her stomach was starting to complain that it was time for lunch when they encountered the only other talking creature that they had seen that day. At least she hoped to God that the rabbits that she had seen Lester eyeing speculatively couldn't talk. The bird had been bad enough; there was no way that she was eating something that begged for mercy. This crazy, twisted place was the best diet ever.

The figure in question was short, man-shaped and trudging along the forest path ahead of them with his head down and a heavy tread. He appeared oblivious to the carpet of flowers under his feet and the bars of brilliant sunshine breaking over the forest floor around him, and also to their steady, not particularly quiet, gain on him.

After a couple of minutes they were almost on top of him, and Lula couldn't believe that he still hadn't noticed them.

"Hey buddy, where you goin'?" Lester called out cheerfully.

He leapt off the path in shock and spun around, pulling a brutal-looking axe from his belt as he did so. He swung it from side to side in a continuous figure-of-eight movement of imminent violence as he faced them. "Get back! I'll take at least one of you down with me!"

"Whoa!" Lester raised both palms in front of him and took a step back. "Relax, man, we're harmless."

He continued to swing the axe. "What do you tall bastards want? And I'm warning you, keep the giant under control."

Tank raised his eyebrows at the comment and took an exaggerated step back.

Lula's eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth to let the little man know exactly what she thought of his suggestion. As she took a breath to start speaking, Tank caught her eye and shook his head firmly. He took another step back and caught her hand in his, drawing her away with him. "Not now," he murmured. "You wanna take this one?" he asked Morelli as he continued to move backwards with Lula in tow.

Lester followed Tank's lead and grabbed the back of Edna's red coat, pulling her back protesting all the way.

Morelli nodded and stepped forward alone to talk to the stranger, careful to stay in earshot of the rest of the group.

He held his empty hands out in front of him. "I'm Joe. Can we talk?"

Lula briefly wondered how often Morelli had to calm down crazy and frightened people; it was like he put on a new face and suddenly he was Officer Morelli, public protector and voice of reason. Even she was calming down, and her track record with cops mostly consisted of running the other way or getting busted for prostitution.

Morelli pointed in the direction of a fallen log at the side of the path, walked over to it and sat down.

The stranger watched him suspiciously for a moment before sitting on the other end of the log. He lowered the axe to the ground but kept his grip on the handle, and his eyes were watchful above his thick beard. "What do you want?"

"We're hoping that you can help us. We're on a… quest. We need to find a witch."

The man goggled at him. "Are you mad?"

"No, desperate."

"Why are _you_ desperate about anything? You travel with a giant."

Morelli flicked a glance over to where Tank was waiting patiently. "He's not a giant, just a man. A big man, I'll grant you, but–"

"No!" the man yelled, diving behind the log. "No granting!"

"What?"

"No granting!" he repeated from behind the log.

"Granting?"

"Granting wishes. You were going to curse me with wishes."

"I didn't say anything about wishes."

The man's bearded face emerged slowly from behind the log and looked hard at Morelli. "You aren't from round here, are you?"

Morelli shook his head.

"Well, trust me, if anyone offers you three wishes, run. It never ends well. And why do you want to find a witch? Don't you know what they do to people? There's a girl hiding at my house right now thanks to witches. Witches destroy people's lives, and they do it just because they can. If you see a witch, I suggest you set your giant on her before she sees you."

"He's not–"

"Or even better, just run. And tell the girl to take that red cloak off and burn it. There's only one thing that happens to girls in red cloaks around here."

"We already found out about that one," Morelli said.

Listening to the conversation, Lula wondered how bad the little man's eyesight was. If Edna heard him call her a girl, she'd probably stay here and marry him, axe and all.

"You've seen the wolf?" The man asked.

"Seen it, talked to it, shot it in the gumpy." Edna had broken away from Lester and come to join in. "Now, what's this I hear about you harboring a witch victim? It's time to take me home with you, hot stuff. You can show me your big weapon on the way."

He peered at the wrinkled face poking out of the red rain poncho and swallowed. "Yes, ah… Miss."

"You can call me Edna. Can I touch it? And you'd better tell me your name if we're going to be on axe touching terms."

"Hapnir Skull Crusher. It's this way."

_o0o o0o o0o_

Hapnir led the way to a picture-postcard pretty cottage in a clearing in the middle of the forest. White roses twined around the blue front door in classic style and other flowers grew in a riot of color and scent between the house and the low, rustic fence that surrounded it.

Another short, bearded man was working in the garden by the front gate. He was gripping a pair of pruning shears and viciously dead-heading faded yellow blooms from a large shrub. He was muttering under his breath as he worked.

_Snip_. "…little tramp..."

_Snip_. "…middle of the night..."

_Snip_. "…lazy…"

_Snip_. "…no better than a common…"

Hapnir looked embarrassed and cleared his throat loudly as the team waited silently for the gardener to notice them. He didn't.

_Snip_. "…know any better…"

Hapnir cleared his throat again. "Glumr? We have company."

Glumr looked up, startled, and yelped as he caught a finger with his shears. "Damn!" He put the finger in his mouth and glared at Hapnir. "More strays? Because if any more tallers move in, I'm moving out. Living back in the mines with my mother would be better than this."

Hapnir winced. "They're here about Snow."

Glumr brightened. "Have they come to take her away?" He beamed at the team. "Welcome. Can I offer you all some tea? A biscuit? Dinner? Snow might be a while, you know what teenage girls are like. Let me tell Dopmar we have guests for dinner. Are any of you vegetarian? Please, come inside and–"

"Glumr!" Hapnir cut in. "They're not here to take her away. They just want to talk to her."

Glumr visibly wilted. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"But we'd love that cup of tea," Edna said brightly. "We've been walking for days."

Glumr forced a sickly smile onto his face. "Of course. Where are my manners? Please, come in." He looked up at Tank. "You might need to bend down to get through the door. We've never had a giant in the cottage before."

"I'll be fine," Tank rumbled. "Thank you for your hospitality."

The team ducked their heads as they followed Hapnir and Glumr through the front door and into the gloom of the cottage.

Lula promptly stumbled as a pair of discarded woollen stockings caught on her shoe and tangled around her ankles.

She lurched forward, only saved from a headlong fall into the room by Tank grabbing her hand and catching her.

"Thanks." She looked around at the scene of devastation in the small sitting room. It looked a lot like she suspected Macy's would if it was hit by a tornado. The floor was strewn with women's clothing and shoes, along with hairbrushes, various tiny pots and jars that she suspected contained cosmetics, and a brightly colored tangle of hair ribbons. Blankets and a pillow were bunched up on the couch. A pair of panties were draped over the back of the sofa and a white cotton bodice was hanging from a candlestick on the mantelpiece.

Glumr followed Lula's eyes to the bodice and he blushed to the roots of his beard. "Not mine."

"No shit."

"It's a… strange time for us right now. Please, come through to the kitchen."

They picked their way through the chaos on the floor and followed Glumr through another doorway.

This time they emerged into a spotless, airy kitchen. There was no sign of the clutter overwhelming the first room. Instead, seven chairs were neatly pulled up around a scrubbed wooden table in the center of the room. Two of the chairs were occupied by more short men seated with their backs to the door.

Lula could hear the rhythmic tap of vegetables being chopped as they bickered quietly.

"…don't see why I should have to touch it. It's a bloody health hazard, that's what it is. If my mother saw it she'd have my beard for it."

"Oh, change the song for the love of Gold. It's not my fault. All I said was, if she's not going to keep it tidy, someone else will have to, before we get rats. Did I say it had to be you? Did I?"

"Well who else would you mean? Glumr's hiding in his precious garden again, Hapnir just walks in the woods all day sulking and Docrim, Sleipnor and Snezfred are pulling double shifts at the mine rather than come home in the evening. It doesn't take a genius to see who's left: me, Dopmar the sucker. Well, tough. I'm not going in there. You can't make me."

"You are such a drama queen, I swear."

"Oh just shut up, Bashak, and watch what you're doing with that knife. I refuse to boil fingers in with the carrots. It's unhygienic."

"I know how to use a knife, so you can give it a rest, Mr Last-place-in-the-axe-wielding-tournament. I hear your mother was so embarrassed she shaved her beard off and resigned from the Mothers of Miners Committee."

"Ceremonial axes are an outmoded tradition and completely unnecessary to modern day dwarfs. Who cares whether or not I can take the top off a boiled egg with an axe? I have a sharp knife for that. And shut up about my mother."

"I hear she had an affair with a taller, oh, about nine months before you were born. In fact, aren't you taller than all your brothers?"

Dopmar picked up a saucepan sitting in front of him, dumped the sliced carrots it contained out onto the table and smacked the other dwarf squarely across the back of the head with it.

"Ow!"

"You asked for it."

"Tall bastard!"

"Axe hugging old fart!"

The two dwarfs launched at each other, sending slices of carrot flying across the kitchen. The chairs were knocked to the ground as they started rolling around on the floor scratching and pummelling each other.

Glumr sighed from his position in the doorway. "Ever since she moved in it's been like this."

He skirted around the edges of the room and picked up a saucepan of water from the stove top, which he threw over the pair of brawling dwarfs on the floor.

"Break it up, you idiots. The next one will be full of hot water."

They separated, coughing and spluttering.

"We have guests," Glumr went on. "They want to talk to Snow when she gets back, so clean this mess up and try to stretch this to feed five more. Gold knows how long she'll be."

Dopmar sheepishly started collecting the scattered carrots while Bashak opened the pantry, pulled out more vegetables and started chopping.

_o0o o0o o0o_

They were polishing off the last of the chicken and vegetable stew with slices of buttered bread when the sound of hoofbeats reached the cottage.

Hapnir got up and looked out of the window. "It's her."

They crowded around the window with him to watch a shaggy brown pony galloping towards the cottage with two riders on its back. As the pony drew nearer the figures resolved themselves into two teenagers, a thin boy sporting a shock of brown hair and a bad case of teenage acne with a pretty girl sitting behind him, arms wrapped around his waist and her long skirts pulled up around her legs. Her long dark hair streamed behind her in the wind of the pony's passage.

Glumr edged around Morelli to stand in front of him and look out of the window. "That's her. I see it's young Thomas this week."

"Of course, if he's got himself a pony," Hapnir replied.

"That's Snow for you," Bashak called from the table where he was mopping up the last of his stew. "No-one could ever call her deep. He'll last until one of the other boys gets something flashier."

They ducked reflexively, expecting the worst as the pony hurtled towards the garden fence at full speed. Instead, at the point when it looked like a crash was inevitable, the boy hauled the pony to a showy stop with a turn that nearly plaited its legs.

"His father'd tan his rear if he saw him yanking that pony around like that," Glumr commented, watching steam rise from the pony's heaving flanks.

"Too bloody right too," Hapnir growled. "Idiot's just showing off to impress her."

"Looks like testosterone is the same anywhere," Edna breathed in Lula's ear, forcing her to choke back a laugh.

"Shame it works on featherheads like Snow," Bashak said, heading for the door. "I'm going to make sure they let that pony cool off properly and give it a drink. I don't suppose they'll think about it."

The boy slid off the pony and held his arms out for Snow to jump into them. As she did he pulled her into a deep kiss.

"Who does he think he is, Prince Charming?" Hapnir muttered as he watched them through the window. "That boy's been watching too many travelling plays."

"I think we might need more than one bucket of water," Morelli said wryly as they watched the two teens progress to groping each other without breaking the kiss.

"Don't tempt me," Glumr said dourly.

The boy's hand was creeping towards the bodice of Snow's dress when Bashak walked out of the house with a bucket of water. Snow broke away from the boy laughing and ran indoors.

Snow clattered in through the front door. "What's for dinner?" she called as she kicked off her shoes in the middle of the cluttered sitting room. She walked into the kitchen and threw herself into one of the chairs at the table, flicking her eyes over the team disinterestedly.

Dopmar slammed a bowl of stew onto the table in front of her and stalked away without saying a word.

Hapnir cleared his throat. "Snow, these people are here to talk to you about something." He nodded to Tank. "We'll give you some privacy." He walked into the sitting room, grimacing at the mess.

Glumr and Docmar followed him and closed the door behind them.

Snow glared at the team. "I'm not going back. You can't make me. Not while that witch is there."

"There's a witch where you come from? What does she look like?" Lester asked urgently.

"She's a vile old harridan," Snow hissed, hatred contorting her beautiful face. "She got her claws into my father and drove me out of my own house. She's an evil hag and I hate her."

"If she's the one we're looking for, we might be able to help each other," Tank said.

Snow looked evasive. "I don't know. I'm safer here."

"Are you kidding?" Lula burst out. "A girl your age living with seven men? That ain't right. Trust me, I know what I'm talkin' about. In a year's time, maybe they'll be talkin' about how times are hard and askin' you what you can do to pay for your keep. Give it a couple of years and you'll be suckin' their cocks to keep a roof over your head. Five years and they'll be sellin' you to any man with the money to pay."

"I'm not doing that!" Snow declared. "Anyway, they love me. They just want me to be happy."

They ignored her.

"Not all men are like that," Lester objected.

"Enough are." She met Tank's steady gaze defiantly and kept going. "Maybe not all, but enough. It ain't right. Maybe they ain't like that, but what if they kick her out and she thinks everybody's good people? We gotta stop her makin' a mistake. Next thing she knows, she'll have a john she can't get away from and it'll be her turn to be found cut up and bleeding somewhere.

"Lu, I know you–" Tank started.

"She's right."

Lula whirled in the direction of the unexpected support.

Morelli continued, "I picked up enough teenage runaways when I was in Vice to know that she's got a point. I think these guys are okay, but she needs to go home if she can. If it's safe."

Snow remained silent, brow furrowed as she listened to the debate about her welfare.

"If we can help her as well as complete the mission, we will, but we ain't here to set the world to rights," Tank growled. "We've got two people counting on us to save them. Or did you forget about what's back in Trenton."

Lula and Morelli both rounded on him.

"Don't you _dare_ suggest I've forgotten about my best friend," Lula snapped. "I was never supposed to be on this mission, remember? I was supposed to be with her, but I'm here and I'm tryin'. We have to be able to save this kid from herself _and_ help Steph and Ranger."

Morelli's tone was icy cold in comparison. "I'd do anything, _anything_, to help save Steph, but I'm not the kind of man that can walk away from a child in trouble. Are you?"

"I'm not a child!" Snow objected, again getting no response. "Will somebody listen to me?"

"This argument stops here." Tank's tone left no room for dissent. "Right now we need someone to take us to the witch. The kid is going to help us. If we can fix her problem we will, but our primary objective is saving our people back home."

"I haven't said I'll help you. I like it here." Snow quailed at the glare that she received from Lula and Tank. "Of course, it couldn't hurt just to show you the way. Then I can come back."

"Tank." Lester had been standing by the door to the sitting room while they argued about what to do with Snow. Now he put his index finger over his lips in the universal gesture for quiet before pointing towards the door.

Tank joined him by the door, where they both listened carefully to the heated conversation going on in the other room. After a few seconds Lula walked over quietly to join them. When Tank looked at her she just met his gaze and didn't move. He continued to stare at her for a moment, then finally turned his attention back to the conversation the other side of the door.

"I'm telling you, she isn't going to leave." Hapnir's voice was clear. "She just said she's coming back afterwards. Gold help us, she likes it here."

"No." Glumr's voice was sharp. "I can't go on like this. This might be our only chance. She has to go with them."

"What else did they say?" Bashak asked.

"That eventually we'll all expect to have relations with her," Hapnir muttered.

"What? With a taller? And she's only fifteen. That's just… just…" Bashak's voice trailed away.

"Disgusting," Dopmar finished for him.

"She has to go," Glumr declared. "If I wanted to live with a woman I'd still be at home with my mother or asking her to arrange me a wife. And look around you. In a year's time this room will be full up and we'll be climbing through the window to get to the kitchen."

"Agreed, but how are we going to make her leave?" Hapnir asked.

"I may have an idea. But you aren't going to like it." Glumr's voice dropped to a low murmur.

_o0o o0o o0o_

Finally the dwarfs filed back into the kitchen. Glumr, Bashak and Dopmar all clustered behind Hapnir, who stumbled forward courtesy of a hard shove from Glumr.

"Ahh, Snow, we have something to say to you." He looked back helplessly at the others. They all nodded firmly and Glumr waved at him to carry on.

"Snow, I know you thought you'd found a safe place to stay when you wandered into our cottage–"

"And made yourself at home," Dopmar muttered before being shushed by the others.

"–but the fact is, it's time for you to earn your keep."

"What?" Snow asked in confusion.

"If you want to stay here you're going to have to suck our chickens, whenever we want."

Glumr closed his eyes and sighed.

"Chickens," Snow repeated. "You want me to do _what_ to the chickens?"

Dopmar leaned forward and whispered into Hapnir's ear.

A pained expression flitted across his face. "Cocks. I meant cocks."

Bashak shouldered forward. "And housework. You're going to have to do all the housework… naked! Yes, naked housework, and…" He stopped when he saw the others staring at him. "What? I was just trying to help."

"Well don't," Glumr said shortly.

Lester was fighting to keep a straight face. "I think you're coming with us, sweetheart."


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing__._

Shadow Puppets

Chapter 11

Stephanie pretended to watch some nameless reality show on Ranger's huge television while she tried to listen to the telephone conversation going on in his office. She could hear snatches of it, but not enough. She was positive that he was up to something. She'd caught the measuring looks out of the corner of her eye since he'd dragged her off the roof by her hair. Typical of him that he couldn't talk to her about it and leave her to find out about it by other means.

She turned the volume on the TV up. Some nameless 'Z' list celebrity was pouting at the camera and displaying her considerable assets as she took her shot at making it on to the 'Y' list.

"Yeah, I just got new boobs too," Stephanie muttered, "but even mine look realer that those puppies." She flicked through the channels and found a cop show instead. Sirens wailed and gunfire filled the room with a barrage of sound. "Perfect."

Under cover of the noise she slid to the couch, swung over the side and landed on her feet with practised ease. She skulked over to the door to Ranger's office and pressed her ear to the wall.

"…. that will do. Set it up. You can tell Hal; no-one else needs to know. I'll need a panic button…. It had better work. I need it, and she does too, even if she doesn't know it."

"What do I need, you secretive son of a bitch?" she murmured to herself.

_o0o o0o o0o o0o o0o_

Snow's petulant whining was starting to drill through Morelli's head as she trailed behind him on the path to her home village.

"I didn't _need_ to be rescued," she wailed. "I was happy. They loved me. I had a boyfriend."

"We saw," he answered, "and that's another reason to get you home."

"Well why shouldn't I?" she snapped. "Lots of girls my age are already married."

Morelli stopped dead in the middle of the path. "What? I thought you were only fifteen?"

"And?"

"You can't get married at fifteen. Not in the U.S." Morelli realized that, wherever they were, it probably wasn't part of any country that he knew, the U.S. or otherwise. "Never mind. The point is, you're a minor. You're still a kid."

"I am not a child!" she flared. "I'm a woman. I was Tommy's woman."

"Tommy's just a kid too."

"I don't suppose I'll ever see him again now anyway," she said mournfully. "My father won't let him anywhere near me without a chaperone."

Morelli remembered what he had been like at fifteen. "Your father sounds like a sensible man."

_o0o o0o o0o_

Snow was sulking resignedly when Tank called a halt for the night. They set up camp at the edge of the forest where it met a wide grassy meadow with a stream crossing it.

Morelli took first watch, leaving Tank and Lula with one of the tents and Snow and Edna in the other. Lester slept in the open next to the fire again, rolled in the blankets that the dwarfs had pressed on them to help with the journey.

He was fighting off the urge to sleep after a long day's walking when Snow slipped soundlessly out of the tent and crept around to his side of the fire. She knelt in front of him and put her hands on his knees.

"Run away with me," she whispered.

"What?"

"I don't want to go back where they treat me like a kid all the time. It's boring, and I'm a woman now."

He stared at her in shock. "Jesus, Snow, you've got no idea what you're saying. Go back to bed."

She slid her hand on up his thigh. "I mean it. Come away with me and I'll be your woman. I'm the prettiest girl in the area, everyone says so."

He pushed the hand away. "You're a kid. And you were talking about Tommy all day."

"You were right, he's just a boy. Why would I want a boy when I could have a man like you?"

He raked his fingers through his hair and shook his head. "We aren't having this conversation. Go back to bed."

"Don't you want me?" Her brow was furrowed as if she couldn't quite believe it.

"I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer."

"You have to. It's important." Edna's voice floated over from the other side of the fire. He looked up to see a familiar hunched shape crawling out of the tent.

"What? Has everybody gone completely insane? She's a fifteen year old girl. What do you think I am?"

"Oh, climb down off your high horse, Joseph. Just answer the question."

"_I don't want her_. There. Satisfied? Now what the hell is going on? This is supposed to be a rescue mission."

"The offer is rejected," she said with satisfaction. "Snow, get back into bed before I tan your hide."

Snow nodded meekly, got up and crawled back into the tent.

Morelli shook his head again, trying to free it from the madness surrounding him. "What's going on, Grandma?"

"This place wants you."

"You're crazy."

"It's been said. But this time I just know. It wants you, and it's going to try to keep you."

"This is insane. I'm just a cop trying to save someone I care about."

"Even so. I don't know how far this will go. This isn't just about Stephanie any more, if it ever was. Be careful."

Edna followed Snow into the tent and pulled the zip down with an air of finality. It looked like Snow wouldn't be making any more appearances tonight.

Morelli cast his eyes around and lighted on Lester apparently sleeping soundly in his blankets. "You can open your eyes now, Santos. I know you're awake."

"Busted." Lester sat up. "Nobody's a heavy sleeper on a mission. I'm willing to bet that Tank heard it all too."

"Wonderful. So I have multiple witnesses to that little scene?"

"Hell, you got nothing to be ashamed of, man. You came through with flying colors. A man of honor."

"You're not telling me you would have been tempted?"

"Kids aren't my scene either. But give her five years and I'd have had tears in my eyes as I said no."

Morelli poked the fire with a stick moodily. "Been there, done that, got the tee-shirt. It's not what I want any more."

"Every great player loses his mojo eventually, but you'll be missed, man. It's sad to see the end of a legend, even if it leaves more for me."

"You're a sick man, Santos. You believe all that about this place wanting me?"

"Hard to say. Too much freaky shit has happened to just ignore it. Tank will say we should be wary whether we believe it or not."

_o0o o0o o0o_

The following afternoon, Snow led them into a bustling village surrounded by a wide expanse of bare ground where the forest had been cleared. "This is it," she said as she pointedly wrinkled her nose. "You can tell by the goat smell."

Lester sniffed and had to agree with her. The yard had a certain… rustic… odor.

The villagers in their leather and homespun goggled at the team and their outlandish clothing as they walked between the outlying houses and into the center of the village.

"Come on." Snow led the way towards an imposing lodge with timber walls and a thatched roof. A curious crowd gathered around them and followed in their wake. In the susurrus of whispers, the words 'giant' and 'Snow' could be heard.

"No chance of a discreet entrance then," Lester murmured to Tank. "How do you want to play this?"

"This shit about me being a giant is gonna take me out of play. Let Morelli do the talking. You look for the witch. I'll stay ready to handle any trouble."

"You gonna trust him that far? The boss wouldn't."

"Ranger's got a bug up his ass where Morelli's concerned, and Ranger ain't here. He's good and we're using him."

"No problem. Just call me Witchfinder General."

"The day I call you General is the day I grow fairy wings and fly, Santos."

"Piss the witch off enough and you might get your wish." Lester ducked as the big man reached out to cuff him round the head and walked forward to catch up to Morelli.

The noise increased to a roar as they entered the lodge. The crowd pressed in behind them until the main room was full to bursting, and the air quickly became thick with the smell of too many people in a small space. The weight of more and more people squeezing in forced them forward until they stood at the far end in front of a large man seated in a carved wooden chair.

Long gray hair blended with a thick grizzled beard to make him look like a huge, graying bear. He stood up to greet them, and his linen shirt slipped down to reveal whorled blue tattoos running down both sides of his neck that disappeared under the shirt that covered his paunch.

"Snow?" His face lit up. "My baby's come back!" He strode forward, picked her up like a doll and whirled her around, laughing.

She scowled in response and struggled to get away. "Put me down. I'm not a baby. Daddy, _put me down_."

He planted a smacking kiss on her cheek and let her down. "Still as prickly as ever, I see. Who are your friends?"

Snow shrugged. "Just people. He," she glared at Morelli, "said I had to come with them. They want to meet _her_."

"Snow," he said reproachfully, "Morwen's been your mother for three years. At least use her name."

"Just because you were stupid enough to marry that conniving bitch doesn't make her my mother," Snow spat. She swung round to glare at Tank where he stood quietly to the side. "I've done my part." She tossed her dark hair back over her shoulder, spun on her heel and walked out through a door behind the carved chair.

A few seconds later her voice penetrated the wall as she screeched, "Who's been in my room?"

Her father looked embarrassed. "They promise me that she'll grow out of it. All I have to do is not kill her until it happens or find her a husband, whichever comes first." He sighed. "I love her, but by the Gods, her temper's worse than her mother's was." He eyed Morelli speculatively. "You wouldn't happen to be single, would you?"

"Sorry, wife and three kids at home," Morelli lied.

"Any of them daughters?"

Morelli nodded.

Snow's father patted him on the shoulder. "You poor bastard, you have it all to come. A word of advice: If you lose your wife, don't marry again. You'll spend the rest of your life in a turf war that makes Goblin Hill look like a minor disagreement." He slung an arm around Morelli's shoulder. "Now, welcome to my house. I'm Botha, by the way. Let's get you all a drink and celebrate my baby's return. You're all welcome, even the giant."

_o0o o0o o0o_

Lester sat across the long table from Tank and Lula and enjoyed his second good meal since they had entered the forest. Botha had been expansive with both his thanks and his hospitality, and insisted that they all eat and stay overnight. After so long on trail rations, none of them had objected. Dinner had turned out to be a communal affair, and they sat at a long table with at least a dozen other people. Botha and his family sat at the head of the table.

He eyed the bowl of peaches in front of him and listened with half an ear to Botha's constant stream of loud jokes and stories while wondering if he could manage any more of the steaming meat in gravy and still have room for the fruit afterwards. It had become a point of principle not to admit it in Lula's hearing, but he was as sick of small game and trail rations as anybody else.

Tank and Lula sat opposite him and were steadily eating as if they planned to keep going all night. Morelli and Edna were further up the table. He slid his gaze over from where Morelli was listening to one of Botha's jokes, and instead covertly studied Botha's wife.

Just like the Wiccan back in Wisconsin, she looked like any other woman, albeit a pretty one, with her clear, pale skin and dark red hair pulled back in a single long braid. She also didn't look much older than her step-daughter, who was spitting at her like an angry cat from the other side of Botha. Morwen picked silently at the food in front of her and ignored both her husband's forced geniality and his daughter's hissing enmity.

Caught squarely in the middle, Botha kept up a constant stream of jokes and stories delivered down the table to the other diners in a booming voice. Every time he caught one of Snow's ice-laden sideways glances at Morwen he took a large pull from his wine cup and talked even louder.

There were plenty of them, and Lester watched him get steadily drunker and louder until finally he sagged slowly toward the table and his food-laden plate.

Morwen reached forward and deftly snagged his plate out of the way just in time. Botha's head continued to descend until finally he was slumped face-down on the table with his eyes closed.

That done, she rose from the table and left the room without a word, ignoring the torrent of insults that Snow threw at her departing back.

Tank caught Lester's eye and flicked his gaze at the door that Morwen had just walked through. Lester nodded, grabbed a peach to take with him and followed.

He slipped through the door into a darkened corridor just in time to see her shadow disappear as she walked through another door at the far end. He followed.

_o0o o0o o0o_

He emerged at the back of the lodge into the clear chill of the evening. The setting sun had left a faint wash of orange across the darkening sky and the tree line stood sharp and black against it.

Morwen was sitting on the top rail of a wooden fence around a small kitchen garden, staring out toward the forest and irritably kicking her heels against the timbers through her long skirts.

She didn't look round as he joined her. "You're one of the visitors."

"I am. You're Botha's wife."

"I am. Morwen."

"Lester."

"You brought her home."

"Sorry."

She sighed. "It's all right. He was so worried. He loves her so much. More than me. He doesn't even see me most of the time, not with sweet little Snow constantly reminding him of her poor, dead mother."

"Why did she leave?"

"He wouldn't cast me off and let her have her daddy all to herself. He may have spoiled her but he's not a fool; there are some things he can't get from his daughter." She laughed ironically. "I won't lie; I was relieved when she left. But after she left he went into a decline. He hasn't touched me in months. Not that he ever did that much before, at his age."

Lester raised his eyebrows. "You do know you're talking to a stranger, right?"

She turned her head to look at him properly for the first time. "Of course I do. You'll be gone in the morning. That makes you the _best_ person to talk to. I can't talk openly to those cackling hens back there. Everybody gossips; there's nothing else to do around here."

"Then talk away, fair lady."

She laughed. "Courtliness. Now that's not something I get from Botha either."

He smiled, gently ran a finger across her hand and up her forearm and watched her shiver. "Anything I can do."

She looked away again into the forest. "Would anything include silence afterwards," she asked carefully.

"My lips are sealed."

Her own curved up in a tiny smile. "Only afterwards I hope."

She hopped down from her perch in one lithe movement, took his hand and pulled him in the direction of the forest.

"Ahh, Morwen, aren't we going the wrong way? The house is that way."

"As is my snoring lump of a husband. Which is why we go this way."

Morwen led him under the trees and the gloom of the forest swallowed the last of the evening light.

_o0o o0o o0o_

With Botha slumped to the table and Morwen gone, Snow was left alone at the head of the table. Tank watched as she reached for the wine jug and filled her water cup to the brim with the dark red liquid. She leaned forward and lifted the cup carefully toward her mouth with both hands.

"No." Edna was watching her with a steady gaze.

"But–"

"No_._"

Snow slammed the cup back down and threw herself back into her chair with arms folded and a sulky pout. Red wine slopped across the table from the discarded cup and ran over the edge to drip onto the ground. It soaked into the dirt floor at her feet like a slowly spreading bloodstain.

Snow scuffed the heel of her boot across it and glowered at Edna. Edna calmly ignored her and carried on eating. Finally Snow got up with a loud scrape of her chair and stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

The other diners seemed to take that as their signal to leave and finished eating too. A few looked back at Botha as they left, but no-one seemed inclined to do anything for him as he snored face down on the table.

Finally Tank, Lula, Edna and Morelli were alone with Botha. The lodge was silent except for tiny plashing sounds as the last drops of spilled wine fell to the floor and an occasional rustle as something small moved in the thatch overhead.

Lula cleared her throat loudly and watched Botha for a response. He didn't twitch. "I reckon he's out for the count. So now what?" she asked Tank.

"Too dark to leave now, so we find somewhere out of the way to sleep." He got up. "Start checking rooms and ask anybody we find on the way. We'll use our own blankets."

They pulled their packs together and moved out of the dining room in the direction that Morwen and Lester had taken.

They moved along the corridor opening doors and checking rooms. Most were filled with food stores and supplies. One contained a frightening array of weapons.

The third door that Tank opened led into a large store-room with a collection of household items piled up in a corner. A few battered pots were stacked untidily next to an empty barrel that smelled faintly of honey, and a tarnished silver disc was propped against the back wall. The floor was clear and dry and had plenty of room for all of them. "This will do. We can leave the door open and catch Lester when he comes back."

They dumped the packs near the door and started to arrange their bedding. That done, they settled in to wait for Lester to return from his mission to check out the witch.


	12. Chapter 12

_So, Shadow Puppets is back underway. The story is actually completed at this point, so chapters will come through fairly fast. I have a list of thanks as long as my arm for all the help. Mud, the mighty muse, for chatter and suggestions and listening patiently every time I railed and cursed and threatened to kill it off. Harmne for helping all the way through and persuading me that I did still give a damn what happened to Ranger and Steph. MiamiBabe, translator extraordinaire. Alf, for telling me what a milagro was and hooking me up with the help I needed. Dee, for the ace beta. I love you all ladies. Thanks again._

_Now, the warnings. The story gets darker from here on in. Sorry if you were liking the silliness. There's still some of that in there, but it's mixed up with all the other stuff. I hope you'll still enjoy it. _

* * *

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing._

Shadow Puppets 

Chapter 12

Lester wished fervently for night vision goggles as he stumbled over yet another branch in the darkness of the forest. "Morwen, how can you see where we're going?"

"It's Wenna, and I just can. Don't worry, we're nearly there."

A small, circular wattle and daub hut appeared in the shadows in front of them. Morwen led him to the low door and pushed it open with a hard shove. "This is where I go when I need to get away from the lodge."

Light from a myriad of flickering candles spilled out through the open doorway into the darkness. Moving shadows sprang up in the surrounding trees, which seemed to lean in towards them to clutch at the light.

Morwen shoved him inside and closed the door.

Lester looked around the interior of the tiny hut. There were no windows in the hut that he could see, just clay walls with a shelf built in that went all the way around the hut. Candles lined the shelf in a flickering circle of flame. Bunches of drying herbs hung from the thatched roof, giving the room a sharp, pleasant smell. A simple mirror of silver, burnished to a soft glow, hung on the wall.

Lester recoiled when he saw the mirror. "Oh, holy crap."

She looked at him quizzically. "What?"

"The mirror."

"It's just a mirror."

"So it doesn't show you the fairest one of all?"

She laughed delightedly. "You're funny. I like you."

"So what does it do?"

"It helps me braid my hair neatly."

"That's all?"

"That's all." She kicked off her shoes before pulling him onto the pile of soft furs in the center of the dirt floor. "Now come here and help me forget about my drunken husband and his poisonous daughter for a little while."

"Your wish is my command."

She froze. "Don't you know any better than that?"

"It's just an expression."

"Don't wish," she said urgently. "I wished for a rich husband and got trapped here in this nightmare; the possession of an old man. Wishes are dangerous." She smiled mischievously. "But commands could be interesting. Let's start with 'take off your clothes' and see how we get on."

He reached over to her and brushed a lazy kiss across her lips.

"Yes ma'am," he breathed into her ear, and started to strip.

* * *

Edna could feel the tension twisting the air in the store-room although Lula was asleep and the two men sitting on their packs were both motionless and seemingly at ease. It was nothing that she could put her finger on, but nonetheless she knew it was there, the same way that lately she knew a whole lot of other things that she couldn't explain either.

"He's been too long," Morelli muttered.

Tank didn't respond.

"Do we just wait here all night and hope he's okay?" Morelli continued.

"If that's how long it takes," Tank said calmly.

"I'm sure he's fine," Edna chimed in helpfully. Tank and Morelli both swiveled their heads to look at her, but gave no other indication that they had heard her.

"Fine. Don't mind me," she grumbled.

She sighed and decided to pass the time at least trying to rescue the sausage curls that had collapsed and now straggled around her face in wispy strands.

She picked up the tarnished silver disc from the pile of items in the corner and peered into it. The metal was mottled with age and dirt, giving it a sickly, diseased appearance. She could just about see the outline of her face in it if she looked hard.

She pulled the end of her sleeve over the heel of her hand and rubbed vigorously at the center of the disc. A thick layer of dust and grime came away, leaving a small circle of cleaner metal that reflected her face. She cleared a larger area before pulling a small comb from her pocket.

As she looked properly into her makeshift mirror, a large grin split her face. "I don't think we should worry too much about him just yet. I'm sure he has everything under control."

* * *

Lester decided that witches might not be all bad. This one was beautiful, and naked, and not at all shy about demanding what she wanted. Right now what she wanted was him behind her so that she could see both of them in the soft glow of the silver mirror. He had no complaints.

Her hair fell like a soft auburn curtain down either side of her shoulders, framing the pale softness of her face and breasts where she faced the mirror on her hands and knees. The sweat on her skin glistened in the dancing candlelight. He knelt behind her and grabbed a handful of her hair, bringing it to his face and breathing in the fragrance of it. It was redolent with the herb scent that he could smell from the drying bunches overhead. He twisted it around his fingers and used it to gently pull her head up and back so that he could look into her eyes in the mirror as he pushed into her.

Their eyes met briefly, and she gasped as he slid home. He kept his grip on her hair and held her gaze as he started to move. Suddenly the image in front of them went hazy, and they both recoiled with shock as the image of their joined bodies shimmered and changed to a familiar wrinkled face, grinning at them.

Lester yelled in horror and fell backwards. The handful of Morwen's hair that was twisted around his fingers went with him and he yanked her head back as he fell.

"Ow! Ow ow ow! Let go!" she shrieked.

"I'm trying."

They scrambled about on the furs trying to untangle themselves while Edna looked on in the mirror. She pointed at them and spoke soundlessly to somebody out of view.

Finally Lester managed to get free. He grabbed the mirror off the wall and, yanking the door open, threw it outside into the darkness.

Morwen was up and pulling her shift over her head. "I don't believe it! That's how she knew. That sneaking, spiteful little…" She screeched with fury and threw one of her shoes across the room to hit the wall.

Lester slid down the wall, leaned his back against it and regarded his limp penis sorrowfully. "What just happened?"

Morwen threw herself down to sit next to him, still vibrating with anger. "I just found out how Snow knows that I'm a witch. Oh, don't worry, I just dabble. The biggest spell I ever cast was to see my future husband. Botha rode in and look where that got me."

The rage started to fade from her voice, and she carried on in a more conversational tone. "I come out here to practice where nobody knows about it. The white witch has done so much damage over the years, it's a bad idea for people to think you're a witch too. I could never work out how Snow found out about it. She used it to try to get her father to cast me off. I was lucky that he didn't believe her." She plucked at the edge of the furs they were sitting on as she continued to speak. "Botha gave me that mirror just after we got married. There must be two of them, connected to each other. I really liked that mirror, too."

She followed his rueful gaze. "Oh. Damn."

"It's her. Edna. Once she's in my head that's it. Game over."

"No hope?"

"None at all."

"Damn." She bent down and picked up her dress from the floor where he had tossed it earlier. "Well, I guess I was just meant to live a life of virtue. I just wanted something for myself, something to remember when he's stinking drunk and snoring. It serves me right for making stupid wishes."

Lester reached out and pulled her ankle towards him so that she overbalanced and landed on the furs. "Wrong. You think that was the only option?" He flipped her over on to her back, threw her shift up over her head and bent his head to her. "I have a reputation to uphold, after all."

* * *

Lester cradled Morwen's head in his lap and idly played with her hair as she drowsed, winding strands around his fingers in complex patterns before releasing them again, letting individual locks slide through his fingers and fall to the furs in a tumble of dark red.

"Tell me about the white witch," he said softly. "Does she have a name?"

She didn't open her eyes as she answered. "Not that anyone knows."

"I thought white witches were good."

"Bone is white, and the ice that freezes the birds to the trees. When everything that had a life has burned, the ash left in the grate is white."

"What do you know about her? Have you ever seen her?"

"Never. All the stories say that she's gray-haired, and old. All the stories that people lived to tell, anyway. The things that she does are frightening. She plays with our lives because she can. She saves the worst for girls my age."

"Tell me about them."

"She passed through a village to the north a long time ago. Everybody who was around is dead now, so nobody knows exactly what happened, but the whole village just disappeared behind a thorn hedge overnight."

"Hasn't anyone ever tried to get in?"

"Not since I was born. The only people that go there now are village boys. It's traditional for them to risk the thorns and climb up to pick one of the flowers for their sweethearts. The braver ones dare each other to try to get through. They never do."

"Did anyone ever bring you a flower?"

Her face was shuttered and her voice emotionless. "In another life. Before Botha claimed me."

"Have you ever seen the hedge?"

"It's over a day away. Botha wouldn't let me go that far. Who'd stop him falling asleep in his gravy every night?"

"Why do you stay with him?"

She wrinkled her brow. "You ask strange questions. He's my husband. I belong to him."

"I'm sorry."

She shook her head slightly. "I don't want to talk about Botha. Ask me something else."

"Do you know where the white witch can be found?"

Her eyes snapped open. "Are you mad? Have you been listening?"

"We need to find her. She might be the one we're looking for."

She sat up and looked at him accusingly. "That's why you brought Snow back. She told you I was a witch. You thought I was the white witch."

"What? No! I'm here because a very beautiful woman invited me. But it's true that you can help us."

"Oh, please, give me some credit. I might not be much of a witch but I'm enough of one to see a lie when I look for it." She laughed bitterly. "How ironic. The man I picked to betray my husband with was lying to me at the same time."

She scrambled to her feet and pulled her dress over her head. "Well, I hope you got the information you wanted." She quickly re-braided her hair without the aid of the lost mirror and pushed her feet into her shoes. "And I hope that I can trust you to keep your promise, because I'm in your hands now."

She walked out into the darkness without waiting for him.

* * *

Morwen disappeared without a word when they got back to the lodge, and Lester walked along the silent corridor alone. His eyes caught the glow of a light through an open door and he heard familiar voices speaking in low tones.

"He's been gone far too long already. How much longer do you plan to wait before checking in with him?" Morelli sounded agitated.

Tank's voice was expressionless. "What he does takes time and needs radio silence."

"And what exactly _is_ he doing?"

"Extracting information."

"Jesus! You think you could let me know before sending people off on jobs like that? We don't know this place or how safe it is. If you don't want to check on him, I'll damn well do it."

Lester chose that moment to walk in. "No need."

Tank nodded slowly. "Any trouble?"

"None. She even made the first move."

"You sure of the information?"

"She opened up." He unrolled his sleeping bag on the floor with a kick. "She's a witch, but not the one we're looking for. I got a lead on another one that's more likely. This one's no threat to the kid either; we can leave her here and move on."

"Are you positive?" Morelli queried. "How do you know she's not lying?"

"Because I know what I'm doing. It's easy to make women tell you what you want to know."

Morelli rounded on Tank. "You didn't seriously send him out to seduce information out of her? Isn't there anything you people draw the line at?"

Tank stared him down. "Would you rather we beat it out of her? He's good at what he does and this way nobody gets hurt. Back off, Morelli."

Lester kicked his boots off and got into his sleeping bag. "I'll report in the morning when we're out of here. Right now I need to sleep." He closed his eyes and tried not to think about the betrayal that he'd seen in Morwen's face when she realized why he was there.


	13. Chapter 13

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing__._

Shadow Puppets 

Chapter 13

"I still can't believe you thought this was a good idea," Stephanie grumbled, lips barely moving as she spoke. "How long am I supposed to keep still?"

"Indefinitely," Ranger answered, keeping his face similarly immobile. "Think what will happen if you move and somebody sees it. Anyway, you shouldn't need to move."

Stephanie bit back a comment about some people looking like they were waiting to catch flies and stared straight ahead out of the car window. Not that she had any choice in the matter. _Let's do some work and make the best of this, Babe._ Right. Damn Ranger and his bright ideas.

"I hate this," she said.

"Babe."

"And don't 'Babe' me. This is all your fault."

"Business is business."

"Tell me, would you see a business opportunity if the sky started raining frogs?" She knew she was carping, but right now she didn't give a damn. If she got to sit here, he got to listen to her.

The interior of the car was absolutely silent.

"Ranger?"

There was a faint roar as a car passed theirs where it was parked at the side of the road.

"Answer me, damn you."

"I'm thinking."

"And I'm going nuts here."

"I noticed."

"I hate this," she said again.

"You said."

She stared out of the window. Again. Straight ahead. Again. Occasionally somebody would walk by the car, completely oblivious to their presence.

"People don't see what's right under their noses, do they?" she said curiously.

"Not often. I count on it. The best way to hide is out in plain sight looking like you belong there."

"Sneaking 101?"

"Got anything better to do?"

She fought the urge to move her arm. "You need to imagine I just flipped you the bird, okay? You know, since I _can't move_."

"Whatever makes you happy."

She twitched one of her ass cheeks fractionally, trying to get more comfortable without giving herself away. "This parcel shelf is really hard. Why can't we sit on the seats?"

"When's the last time you saw a doll sitting in the front seat of a car? Things like that make people pay attention."

"I'm not a doll."

"We know that. They don't. That's why this is the perfect surveillance gig."

"What if someone stole you and tried to shove their hand up your ass like a real puppet?"

"They could try," Ranger answered flatly.

"I can see the headline right now: Puppet comes to life and shoots man, the true story. Would that be enough for you to consider blowing our cover?"

"It would do."

"I haven't finally found something that the Mighty Manoso is afraid of?"

"I'm not _afraid_ of anything," Ranger disputed. "If we encounter anything more inconvenient than the world finding out our secret, I'm prepared to blow our cover. That would qualify."

Stephanie fought back a snort. "Right. Not afraid. Just inconvenient. Got it."

A loud tapping on the window made them both freeze into perfect stillness. A little girl's face framed with curly blonde hair appeared against the glass of the rear window.

"Mommy, look! Muppets! And they move! I want them, please, can we get them? Can we go to the store and get them? Please? Mommy? Please?" Her voice sounded slightly muffled through the glass.

Another, larger face with the same color of blonde hair joined the child's face at the glass. "Let me see them, honey, and we'll think about it for your birthday." The mother took a closer look at Stephanie and Ranger where they sat immobile at the very back of the SUV, facing out of the window. "Good grief! No, sweetie, absolutely not. In fact someone should be in big trouble for selling toys like that. Tom, have you seen these?"

A third, bearded face appeared on the other side of the child and peered in through the glass at them.

The woman's voice continued. "Who on earth thought it was appropriate to sell a puppet complete with a gun belt? That can't be authorised merchandise. And look at the… attributes of the female one. It's downright obscene on a child's toy. I've a good mind to complain to the company. Can you see a label anywhere?"

The two adult faces leaned in close and joined the child's face where she had her nose pressed right up against the glass.

Stephanie fought the urge to shrink back and stayed absolutely, perfectly still.

"I can't see anything," the man said. "Come on, let's go. It's not our problem. I'll buy you a Kermit and a Miss Piggy instead, pumpkin. How about that?"

"But I want those ones!" The little girl's petulant wail faded away as the three faces receded and the woman drew the child along the sidewalk away from the car. "Mommy, it's not fair, I don't want a stupid Miss Piggy, I want the ones that move!"

"Don't be ridiculous, sweetie." The mother's voice was barely audible as the little family walked away. "They weren't moving, they were just ordinary toys. We can get you much better ones than that."

"But Mo-om…"

Stephanie and Ranger both relaxed as the area around the car was finally empty again.

"I have no words for how much I hate you right now," Stephanie said conversationally.

"Babe."

"That guy was looking at my boobs. I feel dirty. I swear he was trying to see if I had nipples or not."

"We all have," Ranger answered absently.

The car fell into absolute silence as Stephanie digested that comment.

"Oh. My. God. That is just… unbelievable. So you guys are all 'it's okay, Steph, we'll fix this, don't worry, Steph, it'll all be all right' on the surface, when the whole time you're all checking out my boobs trying to see if I've still got _nipples_?"

"I got changed too. I'm allowed."

"Don't hold your breath about being allowed anything until my ass isn't numb anymore. How unfair is that I'm made of felt and I'm still getting a numb ass?"

Stephanie stared out of the window. Again. Straight ahead. Again.

"How are you even going to alert the men if we see something?" she asked finally.

"Panic button between my knees. I can alert them any time we need without giving ourselves away."

"Good to know you've still got _something_ between your legs."

"Low blow, Babe."

"Yeah well. I'm a woman on the edge."

"I noticed."

"I hope that they find something."

"Not as much as I do."


	14. Chapter 14

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing._

Shadow Puppets 

Chapter 14

Botha was waiting with what looked like half the village when the team left the lodge in the morning. He met them with a broad smile and the reins to a large, shaggy, gray horse in his hand. "A gift for the people that brought my baby home."

Tank, Lester and Morelli exchanged looks.

"Oh no, there's no need," Morelli started.

"Of course there is. Take the horse."

"But we were happy to–"

The genial smile faded and a dark expression flitted across Botha's face. "Don't insult me. Take her."

Morelli gingerly took the reins that Botha thrust at him and looked up at the horse with trepidation where it towered above him. "Aaah… thank you. Come on… horsie?"

The horse obliged and started walking beside him, and they made their way slowly to the gate. The crowd of villagers parted in front of them as they walked.

As they approached the gate, Lester spotted Morwen in the crowd. She met his gaze and moved her eyes away, refusing to acknowledge him. When she saw Edna, though, her eyes widened. She and Edna stared at each other, both turning to maintain eye contact as the group moved out and back into the forest.

* * *

Botha sighed with satisfaction as the group of strangers walked out of the gate. "I can't believe I finally managed to get rid of that horse."

"Do you think we should have warned them it's unrideable?" asked the skinny man standing behind him.

"It had a saddle on it, didn't it? What more do you expect from a free horse? Now get those gates closed and barred before they realize it's useless and bring it back. And dig Morwen out from whatever rock she's found to hide under. Targa's here on business this afternoon and I want him to see her."

He slung his arm around his servant's shoulder as they walked back into the lodge. "Life is good. I'm rid of that waste of grazing, Targa's wife looks like the back of a cart compared to mine and I got the first look at the strangers. Just find me a husband for Snow and it will be just about perfect."

* * *

The team stopped to review their unexpected companion once they found a clearing out of sight of the village.

"Can someone please take this off me?" Morelli asked plaintively. "I don't know anything about horses."

"That means you know more than me," said Tank. "It ain't nothing to do with me."

"I ain't goin' nowhere near it. Jesus, will you look at the teeth on that thing?" Lula backed away from the horse as it snatched a mouthful of leaves from a nearby tree.

Lester stepped forward. "I'll take it."

"Can you ride?" Morelli asked.

"Of course I can. I've seen every movie that John Wayne ever made. Move over."

Morelli handed over the reins.

Lester took a hold of the saddle and put one foot in the stirrup. The horse threw her head up in the air and swung her rump away from him. He hopped three times on his other foot before losing his balance and crashing to the ground.

"Shit." Lester tried to ignore the laughter of the others. The horse strolled away and started cropping the leaves from the top of a nearby bush while the reins dangled to the ground.

Lester got up, dusted himself off and moved toward the horse again.

She swung her head toward him and peeled her lips back to display a mouthful of large, yellow teeth.

The others sniggered.

"I don't think it likes you," Tank observed, deadpan.

"Fine." Lester held his hands up and backed away. The horse shook her neck once and returned her attention to the bush.

"I'll try." Edna stepped forward with a gleam in her eye.

"No," Tank said firmly. "No broken hips on my watch. We're stuck here with no medical care." He glared at Edna until she retreated.

"Look, why don't we just chase it out of here," Morelli suggested. "It'll go home on its own, or else somebody gets lucky and finds himself a horse. Either way it's not our problem."

"Works for me."

Morelli looped and knotted the dangling reins around the horse's neck so that they couldn't get caught up and stepped away. "Time to go home, horse. Shoo!"

She stood there and watched him, chewing her impromptu snack.

He waved his arms in the air. "Go! Go away!"

The horse just continued to stand there.

He turned back to Tank. "Let's just move on and leave it here."

Tank nodded, and they started walking. Lester, Lula and Edna fell in behind and they marched away, leaving the horse alone in the clearing.

* * *

"You know, I feel kind of bad just leaving it there," Morelli said as they followed a broad path under an avenue of trees. "What if that wolf comes back?"

"Never mind about the damn horse," Tank growled. "Lester, what are we looking for?"

"We're headed north, looking for a village behind a thorn hedge. Sound familiar?"

"Too damn familiar."

* * *

They had stopped for a break in another clearing when Tank noticed Lula examining her ankle. "Lu, you got a problem?"

"Got scratched by some kind of plant back there. Hurts."

"Show me."

She pulled her jeans leg up to show a livid weal along the side of her ankle.

"Damn. Lester, get the kit."

Lester pulled a first aid kit out of one of the packs and opened it.

"Save it," Edna said absently. "Use those instead." She nodded toward a clump of plants with feathery leaves.

"What are they?" Lula asked cautiously.

"Oh, I don't know their name, but they'll help if we boil them into a paste."

Lula picked one of the leaves and wrinkled her nose at the acrid scent. "I think I'll pass. What's in the box instead?"

"Antiseptic," Lester answered.

"I'll take it." She took the proffered tube and slathered it on to the injury.

"Go easy with it. We haven't got much."

"Hey, back off. I'm wounded." She pulled her jeans back down over her ankle and stood up. "Guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

"Stop." Tank raised a hand for quiet and put the other to his gun.

They all froze except for Edna, who carried on rooting around in one of the packs. Morelli, Lester and Lula put their hands to their guns as well and they waited.

The sounds of birds singing in the canopy filtered into the stillness. They almost, but not quite, hid a series of muffled thuds in the distance. The sounds were coming from the same direction that they had come from.

A stray breeze ruffled the leaves of the high branches as they waited in silence for whatever was approaching to arrive.

The thuds grew louder and louder. A flash of white appeared between the trees, and a familiar shaggy shape appeared.

They breathed out and lowered their weapons as the gray horse trotted up to Morelli and stopped. She started cropping the short grass by his feet.

"I don't fucking believe it," Tank cursed. "It followed us."

"Looks like we're stuck with her," Edna said.

"Great," he growled. "Fucking great. I've already got a woman and a senior along on this mission, and now I've got a god-damned horse as well. Jesus."

Lula shot him a silent look that spoke of an argument saved for another time before putting her gun away.

Lester eyed the horse speculatively. "If we're stuck with it, could it at least carry the packs?"

"She," Edna corrected.

He shrugged. "She."

"Morelli, you try," Tank directed.

"Did I mention that I know nothing about horses?"

"But it went straight to you. I don't plan to lose any of our gear on the back of a horse, so you just got the job."

"Great," Morelli muttered. He unslung his pack from his shoulders and cautiously approached the horse. "Hey horse. Remember me?"

She whickered happily.

"Good, that's good." He inched the pack forward, waiting for her to object. She didn't, and he was able to lay the pack over the saddle. "I think we might be okay."

He took the pack back off the saddle and handed it to Tank. Tank lashed all the packs together with a length of cord and handed them back to him. He arranged them to hang evenly on either side of the saddle. " I think we're good," he said.

"Good. You just made yourself a new friend. Keep a hold of that thing in case it decides to change its mind and run away with all our stuff."

Morelli looked at Edna, a question in his eyes. "Is this another one of those freaky offer things? And does it count if I don't ride?"

She shrugged.

He shook his head and started walking. His new friend walked happily alongside him.

* * *

They stopped for the night by a small river. As Tank and Lester pitched the tents and Lula filled the water bottles, Morelli regarded the horse with consternation. More specifically, he regarded the saddle and bridle that she wore. "I guess all this stuff has to come off at night. Anybody know how?"

Nobody answered him.

"Oh, come on, guys, somebody must know something."

"Looks like any other bunch of leather straps to me," Lula observed. "You'll be fine. I'm sure a broad-minded man like you done seen a bunch of leather before."

He heard several snorts behind his back, but when he spun around Lester and Edna were wearing poker faces.

"Fine," he muttered. "I see how it is."

He stepped closer to the horse and reached up to examine the network of leather straps that she wore, starting with the saddle. Sweat had turned the white of her coat to a darker gray around her neck and belly, and a powerful scent of horse and leather enveloped him.

He found buckles hidden under the flaps of the saddle that secured the strap under her belly. "We'll try these first, I guess." He unbuckled them carefully then tugged at the saddle. The whole thing slid off her back easily, leaving a dark, rippled sweat mark in her coat that matched the shape of the saddle. "So far, so good."

He moved on to the bridle and located the buckle points in the complicated array of leather straps. He unbuckled two of them, at her cheek and jaw respectively, and tugged at the bridle.

She lifted her head up and back and the bridle slid forward over her ears and off.

He turned his back on her and showed the bridle in his hands to the rest of the team. "Worked it out!"

"Watch out!" Tank shouted as something heavy shoved against his back and forced him to take a step forward. "She's…."

The impact turned into a rough scraping up and down Morelli's back.

"… got an itch," Tank finished as Lester started laughing.

Morelli turned around slowly. His new friend took the opportunity to scrape her head up and down against his front as well, coating him with a layer of short white hairs and the powerful but not unpleasant smell of horse sweat.

"Look out!" Edna hooted as the horse used his fly button to address a particularly itchy spot. "She's going for the package."

Lula put her hand on her hip and raised her eyebrows. "Reckon you need a box there, Roy Rogers. Trigger's gettin' ideas."

Lester grinned. "Damn, man, I thought I was good, but it looks like you're irresistible to women of all species."

Tank just shook his head silently.

Morelli glared at his laughing companions while the horse scrubbed her ear carefully against his fly.

"Are you quite finished?" he asked her when she finally stopped.

She nickered once and stepped away towards the shore of the river, where she took a long drink before lowering herself to her knees with a loud groan. Hooves the size of dinner plates waved in the air as she rolled in the sandy soil, promising injury to anyone that got too close while she scrubbed the sweat from her coat with river sand. When she was thoroughly coated in dust and sand she pulled herself up again, shook her neck and started eating grass.

"I guess so." He walked over to the tents and joined the others. "What's for dinner?"

Lula sniffed pointedly. "Damn, you smell like that thing now."

"I kind of like it."

"That ain't no way for a city boy to be smellin'. You need to get in that river, and fast."

"Ain't none of us smelling too sweet right now. After we eat, we all need to hit the river," Tank said.

Edna's face lit up. "All of us? Skinny dipping? I'm game."

Lester's face scrunched up with horror, and Morelli bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself laughing.

Tank's lips twitched briefly too. "The ladies go first."

Lula glared at him. "Just so you know, I ain't happy about bathing in no river."

"It's all we've got."

"Yeah, right. You tellin' me the fish get out to take a crap?"

He shrugged. "Only way we got to get clean right now."

"All right, but I ain't happy."

* * *

Tank concentrated on building up the fire and did his best to ignore the shrieks of dismay coming from the other side of the bushes by the river. It sounded like the water was cold.

Lester sat on the ground next to him and started feeding twigs into the flames as well. "You okay, man?"

"Yeah."

"What's Lula's problem?"

"What do you mean?"

"She stares at you all the time like she's got something to say. And she's quiet most of the time unless she's mad. That doesn't sound like the woman you used to talk about. You two having a fight?"

"Butt out, Santos. It's not your problem."

"You know you can see her through the bushes from here, right?"

"I know."

Lester peered through the bushes and recoiled from something in his view. "Jesus. That old lady's got no shame at all."

Tank ignored him.

"We've been on the road for a while now, right?" Lester murmured, still looking through the bushes.

"And?"

"You taken a real good look at your woman lately?"

"I look at her all the time."

"Don't think you do. Otherwise you'd be thinking of a way to get that old lady out of the way and get wet right now."

"Fuck off, Santos, and stop staring at my woman."

"You want her to stay your woman, you need to fix whatever got broken. Now I'm gonna get some more wood and try to forget I ever saw Steph's grandma naked while you take a proper look through that bush."

"Whatever it takes to shut you up, asshole."

Lester got up and walked out into the forest in search of wood, leaving Tank alone again.

Tank cursed and threw a handful of pine needles on the fire. They flared and spat in a crackling fury that matched his mood. He knew what the enforced cut-off from civilization was doing to his girlfriend, and what the hard walking and trail rations were starting to. He'd watched her walk get looser and more fluid without the ridiculous shoes. Without the straighteners and the salon treatments her hair was softening into loose curls that framed her un-painted face and her skin was acquiring a soft bloom from the clean air and the exercise. She looked better than she ever had, and he still couldn't bring himself to hurt her.


	15. Chapter 15

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing._

_Thnk you again to the amazing MiamiBabe for her translation skills._

Shadow Puppets 

Chapter 15

By the time the fifth cookery show came on, Ranger was ready to kill someone. "Steph, is there nothing else you want to watch? How about some hockey? Maybe the Rangers are playing today."

"I'm good. Look, she's about to put the frosting on. My mother can make this cake. Did I ever tell you how good my mother's chocolate cake is?"

Yes. Until he wanted to scream. In all the time he'd thought of Stephanie living in his apartment with him, he'd never thought it would be like this. The old elemental Steph had gotten lost somewhere in everything that had happened. Then again, he'd never thought his dick could get cursed away either. One thing was guaranteed: if he ever got it back, he was never taking it for granted again.

He suppressed a sigh of relief when his phone rang, and took it into the office to answer it.

"Yo."

"It's Bobby. We have a visitor. I need you to see her."

"Her?"

"I'll send you the feed."

Ranger turned his computer on, accessed the feed and stared at the woman inspecting his plants in the first floor lounge. "No. Get rid of her."

"But she says she's your-"

"_No_."

Bobby sighed. "You're the boss."

Ranger watched on the monitor as Bobby approached his grandmother in the waiting area and spoke to her. She barely reached his shoulder, and Bobby's shoulders still visibly hunched as she said something to him. Ranger shook his head.

This wasn't going to go well.

* * *

Bobby braced himself as he got to the lounge. It had taken everything that Eddie had to keep her in there long enough for him to phone Ranger. He suspected that she wasn't going to take being sent away without seeing him well. Not to mention that the old lady spoke hardly any English and he hadn't used his rusty Spanish in years.

She was prowling the lounge inspecting the potted ferns with a suspicious eye as he walked in.

"_Senora__ Mañoso_," he started. "_Mi__ nombre__ is Bobby Brown. Yo__ trabajo__ para el Señor Mañoso_."

***My name is Bobby Brown. I work for Mr**** Mañoso****.***

"_¿__Porque se demoro tanto? __¿__A dónde está mi nieto? __¡__Yo quiero verlo enseguida_!"

***You've taken your time. Where is my grandson? I want to see him, now.***

"_Lo siento __Señora__Mañoso__, pero el jefe no __está__ ahora mismo. __¿__Quiere dejar un mensaje?"_

***I'm sorry, but Mr Mañoso isn't here right now. Can I take a message for you?* **

She reached up and delivered a stinging flick to his right ear, making him yelp before he could stop himself.

"_Mentiroso_," she announced. _"__¿__Tu crees que no __sé__ cuando __alguien__ me __está__ mintiendo? Debes estar avergonzado de mentirle a un abuela._"

***Liar. I know when someone is lying to me and you're lying right now. You should be ashamed of yourself, lying to a woman of my years.***

"_Se lo juro __Señora__Mañoso__, no le estoy __mintiendo__."_

***Señora Mañoso, I'm not lying to you. ****I swear–* **

This time she flicked his left ear. "_Atrevido, ni pienses de tomar el nombre de Dios __en vano__. __¿__Quieres terminar en el infierno?"_

***Don't even think about swearing on the Lord's name in front of me, you lout. Do you want to go to hell?***

At that exact moment, Bobby thought that he might prefer it to more time with Mrs Mañoso, but he knew better than to say it. "_Por favor __Señora__, no hay razón por seguir __pegándome_."

***Señora, please stop hitting me. ****It's uncalled for.* **

"_Llévame__ a mi nieto __inmediatamente__ o veras lo que es verdaderamente sentir un golpe de mi. Estoy anciana, pero todavía puedo ponerte sobre mis rodillas y darte juete. Ahora para__ de__ perder__ mi__ tiempo__. __Yo se que Carlos __está__ en peligro y no me voy hasta que lo vea."_

***Hitting you? You call that hitting? Show me my grandson this instant or I'll show you what hitting is. I could put you over my knee. Now, Carlos is in trouble and I know it. ****Take me to him.* **

"_Pero__ en__ verdad__ no__ esta__…"_

***But he really isn't–* **

"_Basta…si no me vas ayudar, __entonces__muévete__ de mi camino. __Crúzame__ y pagaras las __consecuencias_," she said while she looked at his penis.

***I'm from the old country, you know. I have ways of knowing things. Now if you can't help me, get out of my way before I curse you until your appendage falls off.***

Bobby stepped out of her way with alacrity. "_Discúlpame Señora, está en el séptimo piso. Sígame y la llevo enseguida." _

***He's on the seventh floor. I'll take you there.* **

His phone rang as he escorted Mrs Manoso into the elevator. He knew who it would be before he answered. "Yes sir."

"Brown, what do you think you're doing?"

"Bringing your grandmother to see you, sir."

"You're disobeying a direct order."

Bobby cast a sideways glance at the diminutive woman standing next to him rummaging in an enormous carpet bag. "I am, sir."

"Why?"

"She gave me one too, sir."

There was a moment of silence on the phone.

"Do I have to remind you who actually employs you, Brown?"

"No sir."

"So why are you following her orders and not mine?"

"Because she threatened to put a curse on something very precious to me, sir."

"Not every old woman is a witch."

"With due respect, sir, after everything that's happened would you take the chance?"

There was another long moment of silence.

"We'll discuss this later."

"Yes sir."

The elevator doors opened and Bobby pointed to the door directly across the hall. "That's the apartment right in front of you. I'll leave you here."

He hit the button as soon as she was clear of the doors and made his escape before one or other of the Manosos could catch up with him.

This was a family matter.

* * *

Ranger grabbed Stephanie's hand and dragged her down from the couch. "Forget the cake. Hide."

"But we're in the apartment," she protested as he dragged her into the bedroom. "Who's going to get past the guys to get to us?"

"Somebody already did." Ranger pushed her towards the closet. "My grandmother."

"What? When? How?"

"My grandma. Now. Bobby rolled over. Now quickly, get in there." He pushed her inside, setting the hangers swinging.

"But how did she find out?"

He put a hand over her mouth and pushed her head down. "No idea. Just stay there and keep quiet."

"What, so you hide me away like your dirty little secret?" she hissed when he took his hand away from her mouth.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" he said as he squeezed in next to her and pulled the door shut.

"You? You're hiding too?"

"Information about us is on a need to know basis. I can't stress enough how much she doesn't need to know. Now shut up."

"Boy, this is educational," she said in a conversational tone.

"Steph–"

"I mean, I'm seeing a whole new Ranger here."

"Steph, will you shut the fuck up?"

The door swung open and a face appeared in the rectangle of light.

"Too late," he sighed, and stood up. "_Hola Abuela."_

***Hello Grandma.***

"Carlos!" she shrieked. _"__¡__Mírate__! __¿__Dios __mío__ que te ha pasado?_"

***Oh my God, what happened to you? Look at you.***

"_No es nada Abuela todo __está__ debajo control_."

***It's nothing, Grandma, it's under control.***

"_¿__Nada? __¿__Como me puedes decir que nada está pasando? Mírate, te convirtieron en juguete. __¿__Quien te maldijo?_" Her eyes narrowed. _"¿Que hiciste?"_

***Nothing, he says. **_**Nothing**_**. You're a toy! How can this be under control? Somebody cursed my grandson into a toy and this is nothing? What did you do?* **

"_Abuela, no creo que sea importante en el momento."_

***I don't think that's the point, Grandma.***

Her arm snaked out and she slapped him around the head before dragging him out of the closet. _"Claro que es importante. Te repito. __¿__Quien to maldijo y porque?"_

***Of course it's the point. Who cursed you? Why?***

Ranger just folded his arms and met her gaze.

"_Ni creas que me vas ha tartar de usar ese tactica conmigo. Tu sabes perfectamente que mis poderes son muy poderosos. En el final, y__o siempre termino sabiendo así que más vale la pena que me digas._"

***Don't you try to stonewall me, Carlos. You know I'll find out. You know I have ways.***

Ranger raised his eyebrows and said nothing. They glared at each other for a long moment before her eyes flicked back to the closet.

She reached past him and hauled Stephanie out of the closet by the arm.

Stephanie yanked her arm free. "Hey, back off, lady."

"_Así__ que tiene que ver con una mujer_," his grandmother said. "_Estoy empezando a entender. __¿__Quien es ella? Y más importante…a quien le pertenecía?_"

***A woman, then. I begin to see. Who is she, Carlos? Whose woman was she?***

"Ranger, what's she saying?" Stephanie asked.

"Say nothing," he muttered. "_Abuela, el pasado de __Estefanía__ no tiene que ver nada con esta_…"

***Grandma, Stephanie's past is nothing to do–***

"_Estefanía_." His grandmother seized the information gleefully and Ranger closed his eyes. She got past his defenses every time. "_Así que los dos fueron maldecidos. No me pierdas el tiempo culicagado. __Dime __inmediatamente__ que paso. Y ni trates de __ocultármelo__, porque sabes que eventualmente lo voy a saber_."

***Stephanie. So you were both cursed. Tell me what for, Carlos. You know I'll find out eventually.***

"_Esto no tiene que ver nada contigo Abuela. No te metas._"

***It's none of your business, Grandma.***

She reached out and cuffed him around the head. "_¿__Como te atreves? __¿__Alguien maldijo mi familia y __tú__ quieres que __voltee__ la cara? Nadie__ le__ hace__ un__ daño__ a mi__ familia__. __Aunque sea merecido. Todos saben que tienen que venir adonde mi primero._"

***Wrong. How is a curse on my family not my business? Nobody curses my family, whatever the reason. They bring these things to me first.***

Ranger sighed, and Stephanie murmured, "You _will_ tell me what she said, later."

"Just think Grandma Bella in Spanish."

"Oh. Got it. I'll shut up."

"Good plan."

"_¿__Ya terminaron?_" His grandmother was glaring at them.

***Are you two quite finished?***

Ranger just stared at her.

"_Eso es lo que __pensé__. Me voy a misa para pedir un milagro para los dos. Y apenas los convierta a humanos otra vez, vamos a hablar del matrimonio_."

***Good. I'm going to church to buy a milagro for you both. And as soon as you are restored we will discuss a date for the wedding.***

Ranger's head snapped up. "_Abuela. No vas a meterte en mi vida._"

***Grandma, you will not interfere with my life.***

"_Absurdo. Es claro que está viviendo contigo aquí. Mírate Carlos. Tienes suficiente problemas para también mancharte el alma con mas pecados_."

***Nonsense. She is clearly living here with you. Look at yourself, Carlos. You're in enough trouble without staining your immortal soul with more sin.***

"Ranger," Stephanie hissed. "What's she saying?"

"Trust me, you do _not_ want to know. Just smile and nod until she goes."

Stephanie pasted a smile on her face and he nodded with approval.

His grandmother gave them both a suspicious look and walked to the door before turning again. She crossed herself and said, "_Madre de Dios_," before leaving.

***Mother of God***

Ranger heard the apartment door open and close. "Okay, she's gone."

"I don't like the look she had on her face there at the end. She looked like my mother. What's she up to?"

"She thinks we're living in sin. She doesn't approve."

"Sin? But we don't even have the equipment to sin–"

Ranger held his hand up for silence. "You'll forgive me if I don't want to discuss that with my grandmother."

"Oh. Okay. Fair point." She reached out and hauled him in by the collar until they were nose to nose. "But just so you know, if there's a shotgun wedding in my future, I'm not going to be happy. I already dodged that bullet once."

"Yeah, and I'm not planning on getting hit with it a second time."

She let go. "Okay, as long as we're both clear on that point."

"Oh yeah."


	16. Chapter 16

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing._

Shadow Puppets 

Chapter 16

Lula spotted the dark shadow in the distance first, when they were looking for a suitable spot to camp. She squinted into the sun and pointed. "What's that?"

The forest had petered out the day before and given way to a broad prairie that whispered in the breeze that ruffled the tall grass.

The grasses went on and on into the distance for as far as the eye could see, until they reached the shadow that she was pointing to. The narrow path of flattened grass that they were following headed straight for it.

They followed the path, and the shadow grew into a towering wall that sat on the landscape and drew all eyes toward it.

"I don't like it." Lula said. "I wanna go back."

"Lester." Tank nodded toward the wall. "Check it out. We'll wait here."

Lester nodded and jogged away towards the darkness.

* * *

The shadows were starting to lengthen when he returned. "Thorn wall. Looks completely impenetrable from this angle. No threat visible and there's water; a stream goes underneath it.

"And your intel is that it's safe?"

"The kids in the area dare each other to go through it. No threat, they just never get through."

"Let's get to the wall and make camp. We'll check it out in the morning."

* * *

The setting sun turned the grass to gold as they approached the thorn wall. Rabbits scattered before them as they reached the stream, some of them risking certain death to dodge between the horse's enormous feet. She ignored them, just whisking her long tail as they passed underneath her.

Evidence of previous camps lay littered around them. Circles of stones and bare, scorched earth pointed to previous campfires, and shards of pottery and broken tools lay scattered around. A battered cooking pot lay on its side. Lester picked up a length of curved blade that had snapped at one end. "Looks like some of these kids meant business. How hard is that hedge, for God's sake?"

"Quit poking around and get the fire started," Tank growled. "We'll investigate tomorrow."

* * *

In the morning, they started with a full circuit of the thorn wall to establish its extent and investigate the surrounding area. All the way around it was thick, dark and forbidding, a tight, densely woven thicket of thorn bushes that rose fifteen feet in the sky like a grim citadel of vegetable power. Every branch sported a collection of vicious, curved thorns. Ivy twined its way around the dark thorny skeleton, blocking any light that might have told them how thick it was. Blood red blooms of some unknown flower hung in giant swags from the higher branches.

The stream where they had started was the only thing that passed in or out of the wall.

"I guess that's that, then," Lester said. "Nothing out here to give us any information and no weak spots that I could see."

Tank pointed to the stream where it flowed under the wall. "This is as good as it gets."

"So who's gonna be Prince Charming?" Lula asked.

"Me, of course," Lester answered promptly.

"Why?"

"Because I'm pretty damn charming, that's why."

Lula put both hands on her hips and wagged her head. "Well, would you listen to him? Ladies and gentlemen, the ego has landed."

Edna cackled with laughter. "As long as he can back it up. Can you back it up, handsome?"

Lester looked pained. "Of course I can. Would I say so otherwise?"

Tank took charge. "That's enough. Lester, Morelli, you two go first. Once you're through, we'll widen the hole from both sides.

They both nodded and pulled their machetes from their packs. Lester stepped over to the hedge and took a swing at a large branch where it leaned towards the water. The hardened steel bit into the wood with ease. "This ain't so bad. This ain't gonna take long with real men doing it."

Lula and Edna exchanged glances and raised eyebrows.

Oblivious, Lester swung the machete again and severed the branch. "Yes! First blood."

Morelli took a position to the side and did the same thing. Together, they gradually hacked a small tunnel at the base of the thorn wall and edged forward.

Inside, the wall was a skeleton of bare branches and thorns, with all the leaves on the outside where they could reach the light. They took it in turns to worm into the narrow space and try to deepen it while the other dragged the cut branches out. Tank worked on enlarging the mouth of the tunnel. Thorns constantly ripped at their hands and clothing as they worked.

They were both in the tunnel with Lester in front when the thorn skeleton gave a sigh and sagged down into the tunnel, cutting them off from each other and from Tank, Lula and Edna. Morelli fell to the floor and pressed himself into the ground. He heard Lula scream and Tank shout as the light was cut off, leaving him buried under a tangle of branches and razor sharp thorns. He fought to control his breathing and stay calm in the darkness. "Shit. Lester? You okay?"

"Yeah, I think so. You?" Lester's voice sounded muffled in the close confines of their vegetable prison.

"Can you move?"

"A little. Ow! Jesus! There's thorns everywhere. This is going to cut us to pieces."

"Why can't we hear the others any more?"

"I don't know, man. This is seriously weird." Lester was silent for a few moments. "I think I see some light up ahead. I might be near the other side."

Morelli heard a loud rustle and a mutter of "fuck," followed by the sharp thunk of steel biting into wood.

He lay in the darkness listening to rustles and thuds as time stretched out. Sweat dripped into his eyes in the still, airless space. A stray leaf stroked his cheek and tickled his nose. He wanted to brush it away, but didn't dare move in case the thorn that was pressed into his back dug in. All he could do was lay motionless and hope that Lester managed to cut them out before the thorn wall fought back again.

The thuds got closer and closer until a loud rustle was followed by a shaft of light that assaulted his eyes. He squeezed them shut and opened them again slowly to let them adjust.

Lester's voice murmured urgently close to his ear. "I don't know how long we've got. I'm going to pull you forward on the count of three. When I say go, push with your legs. You've got about eight feet to go, so don't stop, okay?"

"Got it."

They braced.

"One, two, three, _go_."

Morelli shoved hard with his legs as Lester pulled him by the arms. They scrambled towards the light and freedom.

The wall sighed again and moved down just as they cleared it.

Morelli lurched and stopped as the branches gripped his legs. "Fuck! It's got me!"

Lester heaved hard and dragged him clear with a rending of fabric and leaves. Tendrils of ivy gripped him and tore away as he kicked with his newly freed legs and reached the freedom of the other side.

Morelli flopped onto his back with a groan and lay on the ground looking up at the sky while he waited for his heart to stop beating its way out of his chest.

He heard Lester collapse next to him before losing everything else behind the rush of the blood in his ears.

* * *

When the shaking in his legs had subsided and his breathing had slowed, he took a good look at the other side of the thorn wall. This side was a mass of crimson flowers, vivid against the glossy dark green of the ivy.

"That is the scariest thing I've ever done," he muttered.

"Amen to that, man. And we still have to get out again."

"What next?"

"We need to tell Tank we're okay. My radio's in there somewhere. You still got yours?"

He rolled to the side to see Lester still flat on the ground next to him. He was covered in scrapes and lacerations. A dozen tiny trickles of blood were drying on his face and arms. "You look like hell."

"You haven't seen yourself yet. Dragging you out like that did some damage."

Morelli stood up slowly and looked down. His clothes were ripped to shreds and covered with blood from the mass of scratches and abrasions that covered his body. He could feel a stinging pain where the big thorn had ripped his skin and a warm trickle was running into his eyes. He put his hand to his face and pulled it back bloody. "Damn. Bad?"

"Bloody but superficial. You'll be pretty again soon."

"Fuck off, man."

Lester grinned as he pulled himself to his feet too. "We need to find you some pants. Go back to Trenton like that and the women will eat you alive."

Morelli shivered. "Scary thought."

"Chicken. So how about that radio?"

Morelli checked his clothes. "Gone. The gun too."

"Damn. We'll have to get as high as we can and try to call him over the wall." Lester started limping towards a large lodge in the middle of the deserted village.

Morelli followed him.

* * *

The lodge was cold and dark inside, with nobody to be seen in the rooms that they checked. They found a couple of tables and dragged them out to the front of the lodge, where they used them to clamber up onto the sagging, dusty thatch. They were closer to the top of the wall, but not high enough to see over it.

"You keep watch while I call Tank," Lester instructed.

"You think there's anybody alive in here?"

"Who knows? Best to be careful." Lester took a deep breath and yelled, "_Tank!_"

Tank's voice was faint as it came back over the wall. "_I hear you._"

"_We're through. Banged up but okay. Don't try to get to us._"

"_Understood_."

"_We're gonna check out the location and look for anything that might help us and a way out._"

"_Do it quickly. Morelli's horse is going nuts out here._"

Tank's words were accompanied by a frantic whinnying and the sound of heavy hoofbeats.

Morelli raised his eyebrows. "My horse?"

"Yep, can't you hear her? Your girl's missing you already."

"Do you ever stop?"

Lester grinned. "Where's the fun in that?"

* * *

They dropped down from the roof of the lodge and surveyed their surroundings. The lodge sat in the center of the village. Smaller houses huddled around it as though begging for protection from the shadow of the thorn wall.

"Any thoughts?" Lester asked.

"Let's start with the big one in the middle. That's the most likely one."

They walked back into the lodge to check the rest of the rooms.

Room after room was deserted. The kitchen was devoid of pots and knives, the storerooms were empty except for half a sack of moldering grain and an empty barrel with a broken stave. A thick layer of dust coated everything and muffled their footfalls as they moved through the lodge.

Finally Morelli found a room that wasn't empty. He stepped into the square of light cast onto the floor by the small, high window. "Lester, get over here."

Lester joined him. "Damn."

"Yeah."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I'm thinking."

They both regarded the muslin-draped form that lay on the bed at the back of the room. The rest of the room was empty except for a heap of dust-covered rags by the door.

Lester moved closer and fingered the dusty gray fabric. "White under all this dust."

"We both know what's under there. Do it."

Lester pulled it off, throwing a cloud of dust up into the air. Dust motes danced in the shaft of light from the window. The young woman underneath was like a china doll with closed eyes, still and cold and perfect. A long, fawn dress covered her from her neck to her toes. "And there she is, just like the story goes."

Morelli pushed her blonde hair out of the way and pressed a finger to the pale skin of her neck. "Not quite the way the story says it. No pulse, and she's cold."

"She's dead?"

"If she is, there's been no decay in a hundred years. Embalmed maybe?"

"Wanna bet the farm on it after everything we've seen so far?"

"Not a chance. Time to do your stuff, Casanova. See if you can wake up Sleeping Beauty."

Lester glared at him. "I'm not a performing seal."

Morelli shrugged. "Thought taking one for the team was your speciality. Tank seemed to think so."

"Only if I want to." Lester didn't know why that was important, but it was. He leaned over the still form, then shuddered and stepped back. "What if she is dead?"

"What if she isn't? We haven't found anything else to help us."

"Jesus." Lester leaned forward again and tried to imagine that she was warm and breathing, just sleeping and ready to wake. It wasn't enough. He closed his eyes and tried to overlay another image over the one in front of him. A woman with warm skin and dark red hair. And angry, accusing blue eyes.

He shook his head violently and stepped away. "I can't."

"What?"

"You do it."

"I can't do it."

"Shit." Lester sagged back against the wall and let himself slide to the floor. Morelli sat on the floor next to him.

"I don't believe this," Lester muttered. "The two biggest players in Trenton and neither of us will kiss her."

Morelli dug deep into his single remaining unshredded pocket and pulled out a quarter. "Toss for it?"

"Heads."

Morelli flicked the coin. It spun in the air as it rose and fell again. Dust motes swirled and spiraled in its wake. "Tails it is. Damn."

He pulled himself up and walked over to the girl. "How the hell did I get into this mess?" he announced to the room. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and pecked the girl's lips.

Her eyes snapped open and she screamed a shrill, piercing scream. It went on and on as she threw herself backwards away from him.

Morelli stepped back immediately with his hands in the air. "It's okay. Don't panic, I won't hurt you."

She kept on screaming, huddling into the corner where the bed met the wall. Her eyes were wide and terrified.

"Shit." Lester cursed. "Let's back out slowly and let her calm down.

They backed away towards the door with their hands held out palms forward in front of them.

"Stop right there," a voice growled behind them, barely audible over the girl's screaming.

Lester froze as he felt something sharp press into the small of his back. "Company."

Morelli spun to face Lester and whoever was standing behind him. He raised his hands high. "We're not here to hurt her. We're looking for information."

The point in Lester's back didn't move, but the unknown man called over to the girl. "Belle, it's Garrick. I'm here."

The screaming stopped. "Garrick?" she faltered.

"The same. Just stay calm. Who are they?"

"Where is everybody? Why does everything look wrong?"

"I'll explain what I can in a moment. You two, up against that wall."

Lester complied and stood against the wall next to Morelli. He cast a slow look down at his gun before returning his eyes to Morelli's face.

Morelli fractionally shook his head and kept his eyes fixed on Garrick. Lester followed suit and assessed the newcomer.

Garrick brushed the dust from his grizzled face and short, graying hair without taking his eyes off them. The short sword pointing at them didn't waver for a second. More dust showered from his body as he moved to reveal a tan leather jerkin and pants covering lean, hard muscle. An intricate, twisting blue pattern was tattooed along the length of his arms from his fingers to his shoulders. He looked dangerous and he didn't look happy to see them there. He watched them carefully as he moved over to Belle.

She threw herself into his arms as he reached her and sobbed hysterically into his shoulder.

He patted her shoulder awkwardly. "Shh, Belle, be calm."

She just sobbed harder.

Finally the flood of tears died away to a trickle. Garrick carefully detached her arms from around his neck and sat her on the bed. He stood protectively in front of her and fixed Lester and Morelli with a sharp glare. "Time to talk."

"What do you want to know?" Morelli asked, watching both him and the girl that sat pale and shaking behind him.

"Let's begin with who you are, why you are here, how much time has passed and how you woke us."

"My name is Joe Morelli, this is Lester Santos. We're new to the area. We're looking for the white witch."

Belle shrank into herself and Garrick's hand tightened on his sword. "Why?"

"We're looking for whoever cursed some friends of ours. The only person we've heard of with the power to do it is her. We want to talk to her."

"Find her and you may find yourself unable to talk."

Morelli shrugged. "Still."

"How much time has passed?"

"We've been told about a hundred years."

Belle whimpered behind Garrick.

"Shh, Belle," he muttered. "Let me think."

"Give her a break," Morelli interjected. "She's scared half to death."

Garrick glared at him. "Break what? Anyone that touches her dies. And how exactly did you wake her up?"

Morelli winced. "You have to understand, there's a story where we come from about a princess that was cursed to sleep for a hundred years. The story told us how she woke up. We… just did what the story said."

"Which was?" Garrick asked through gritted teeth.

"I had to kiss her."

Garrick took a step towards Morelli with a murderous look in his face. Lester pulled the gun from his belt and aimed it at his head. "Don't. I'm warning you."

Garrick stopped. "What's that?"

"A weapon. We aren't your enemies, but don't push your luck. We didn't like it either, but she's awake and unharmed."

Garrick stepped back slowly and lowered the sword. "Belle?" he said quietly without looking at Morelli.

"They didn't hurt me." Her voice shook. "I was just afraid when I woke up and saw him right there."

Garrick sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. "I have no reason to trust you except that she's awake and so am I. It'll have to be enough." He put his sword away.

"What happened to you?"

"Ash happened to us."

"Ash?"

"Your white witch. She came in the summer, spent a lot of time looking around. Our people hid in their houses, and we watched her. I tried to keep my men between her and the rest of the village. Then she disappeared again.

"The next day, Belle didn't wake up. Her father tried everything, doctors, herbwomen. I thought she was dead, but he kept saying that it was magic and she was just asleep, and it wasn't my place to argue with the chief. After a few days I agreed, because she didn't start to…" He glanced at Belle where she sat shivering on the bed and changed what he was about to say.

"We tried for weeks. People started talking about curses and disease. They packed up and left in the middle of the night; there were a few people less every day, and the hedge started to grow. Soon it got to the point where we had to think about the people left. We were becoming sleepy and it was increasingly hard to do anything.

"Eventually the chief took the last few people away to safety. I volunteered to stay and watch over her. I was responsible; I should have just killed Ash the day she walked in and hang the risk." Garrick shrugged. "If that was a hundred years ago, then we did the right thing."

A sob caught his attention, and he turned back to Belle. She was rubbing her cheeks frantically, trying to conceal the tears that trickled down them.

Garrick looked at her helplessly. "Belle…" He raked his hand across his scalp again. "I'm a warrior, child, I don't know what to do."

Morelli moved across the room towards her. "She needs more than just protection right now."

Garrick put his hand to the hilt of his sword. "No closer to my ward until you're decently covered."

Belle looked up at Morelli and took in the rents in his clothes. Her eyes went wide and she choked back a giggle. "I can see his…"

"Stop right there," Garrick said firmly. "I don't want to know. You," he pointed to Morelli, "go to the next room and take some of my clothes." He turned to Lester. "You can show us the hedge while he changes."

Lester saluted. "Sure thing, man. Hedge isn't exactly the right word any more, though. We've got work ahead of us."

Garrick furrowed his brow. "Of course I'm sure. And of course I'm a man. Did you think I was a woman?"

"Never mind."

* * *

They were surveying the thorn wall when Morelli rejoined them, tugging at his black leather jerkin self-consciously.

Lester wolf whistled, and Morelli glared at him. "Knock it off. I mean be quiet," he amended, noticing Garrick's confused look.

Garrick nodded approvingly. "Those are better. Keep them. You can have my spare sword as well."

"I don't know how to use one."

Garrick waved at the wall. "Your friend tells me that your weapons are somewhere underneath this thing. Take the sword. You can learn to use it. Now help us to work out how we get out."

He nodded and stared at the wall of vegetation that stood between them and the outside world. The red flowers near the top nodded in the breeze. "We could try using the tables to stop it coming down on top of us again."

"Sounds like a plan," Lester said thoughtfully. "And if we go through in the same place we might be able to pick up the gun and the radios."


	17. Chapter 17

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing._

Shadow Puppets 

Chapter 17

Lester and Morelli pulled all the tables in the lodge over to the thorn wall while Garrick and Belle collected their limited possessions. They met back at the wall.

"Let's do this," Garrick said grimly.

Lester used his machete to cut a deep alcove into the wall. When it was a couple of feet deep he stood clear and Morelli and Garrick heaved a table into the space.

They waited.

After a few minutes, the wall sighed and moved down. It pushed hard at the interloper and there was a screech as thorns ground across the wood, but the table held.

"Result," Lester said with satisfaction. He crawled underneath the table and hacked into the wall again to make the space a little deeper. Gradually they pushed the tables into position under the wall and opened a tunnel under the thorns.

It was dark and claustrophobic underneath the wall in the tunnel made of tables. Periodically the wall shoved at the tables, making the wood groan and screech. Each time it happened, he stopped and held his breath, hoping that he wasn't about to be trapped for good.

Finally he cut through the last of the branches and pushed out into the sun. "Tank!"

Tank came running over from the campsite.

"Help me widen this. I'll tell you why afterwards."

Tank nodded and hacked into the side of the thorn wall.

Lester turned around and shouted back down the tunnel. "_Time to move! Push the tables up then send Belle through and follow her, fast. No time to look for the gun or the radio._"

"Belle?" Tank questioned.

"Later, man. Get ready to help them out."

A minute later Belle's blonde hair poked out of the tunnel. Tank extended a hand to help her out. She stared at him wide eyed before accepting it.

He lifted her out effortlessly and passed her off to Lester. Morelli came through shortly after her.

The wall pressed down again, and the wood of the tables groaned loudly with the pressure. Lester heard the sound of wood splintering somewhere inside the wall. He shouted down the tunnel. "_Garrick, move!_"

They waited for Garrick to get through the tunnel and get out. The splintering and cracking sounds got louder and the leaves on the outside of the wall rattled and sighed as if they were blowing in a strong wind. The air where they stood was heavy and still without a breath of breeze.

There was a loud crack inside the wall as Garrick propelled himself out of the tunnel like a champagne cork. He threw himself forward and clear just as the wood of the tables collapsed under the pressure of the wall. They watched their tunnel disappear forever as the thorn wall reclaimed its territory.

Garrick stood up and brushed himself off. "That gray-haired old sow had better hope that she died while I was asleep," he said conversationally.

There was a thunder of hooves around the curve of the wall and Garrick drew his sword so fast that it was barely visible. "Who's that?"

Tank sighed. "That would be Morelli's horse. She's been pacing the wall since they went through."

The gray horse came galloping round the bend in a mass of hooves and white hair. When she saw Morelli she whinnied and moved even faster.

Garrick swept Belle up into his arms and they all scattered away from the advancing avalanche in case she couldn't stop in time. The horse changed direction to follow Morelli and for a moment it looked as though she might trample him. Instead, when she was nearly on top of him she sat back on her enormous haunches and ground to a halt, leaving deep furrows in the ground. She whickered and nudged her head against him.

"Jesus," Morelli said weakly. "I nearly just filled my pants."

"You're not alone," Lester said from the middle of the stream.

Garrick returned without Belle and circled the horse, looking at her appraisingly. "Your horse?"

She rolled her eyes and aimed a cow-kick at him.

"She seems to think so," Morelli answered.

"Nice ride?"

"I don't ride. She carries the packs."

"Waste of a good horse. You should ride her."

"Maybe some day."

* * *

Tank, Lester, and Morelli took Garrick and Belle to the campsite where Lula and Edna were.

Morelli sniffed as they approached. "What's that smell?"

Tank grimaced. "Edna's homemade plant stuff. Why do you think I was over by the wall when you came through? Turns out she picked a bunch of those leaves she was talking about while we were bathing in the river…"

"Ri-ight," Morelli said dubiously.

"Yeah, I don't think that was all she was doing either. She keeps smiling at me and waggling her eyebrows. It's downright unsettling…" Tank drifted off for a moment and then carried on. "Anyway, as soon as you guys got trapped, she grabbed Lula and set her to shredding and cooking these leaves with her. It stopped Lula from trying to tear the wall apart with her bare hands, so I ain't complaining, but damn, the smell…"

The closer they got, the worse the smell was; an acrid medicinal odor that set up camp in the nose and refused to leave.

"Jesus, what are they _doing_?" Lester asked.

Tank took a deep breath and coughed. "Let's find out."

They walked over to the campfire. A wall of heat hit them from a fire burning small and hot in a circle of round stones. Lula kneeled in front of it, carefully stirring something in a battered cooking pot hanging over the fire. She was stripped to her bra, with her tee-shirt wrapped around her hair instead. Sweat beaded the warm, cocoa skin of her face and breasts. The air above the pot shimmered with heat in the still, airless summer day.

Morelli looked into the pot at the thick, green paste. His eyes started to water immediately and he jerked away. Pain flared in his back where the thorns had torn it and he felt a warm trickle run down his back under the leather jerkin. "What is that stuff?"

Lula shrugged, her breasts heaving in the confines of the bra. "Ask Edna. I'm just the kitchen girl."

"Lu?" Tank's voice had a possessive edge. "You wanna put your shirt back on now the guys are back?"

Lula didn't take her eyes off the paste she was stirring. "I'm hot. I'll put it back on when I'm done here."

He stared at her. "There are strangers with us."

"Yeah? And?"

Tank dropped his machete to the ground, growled and stalked away from the fire. "Morelli, Lester, debrief, now. Bring your new friends."

* * *

Lula gave the thick paste one more stir and took the pot off the fire. She wiped the sweat from her face with the back of her hand, rose and stretched, rolling her head on her shoulders and reaching up high to stretch her shoulders until she felt them click. "It's done!" she called. "You ready?"

"Bring it here," Edna called back from behind the tent.

Lula lifted the pot carefully and took it to her.

Edna had one of the emergency silver blankets spread out in the sun with either a gun or a shoe sitting on each corner. A thin coating of the paste was spread out on the blanket to dry.

"Pour it on that side," Edna directed. "This side's just about ready."

Lula poured the paste over the blanket and spread it out thinly with the spoon she had used to stir the pot. When she looked up from her task, Edna was watching her with an inquisitive, bird-like stare.

"What?"

"What did you just say to Tank? I could almost hear his teeth grinding as he came through here."

"Refused to put my shirt back on just 'cause the boys were back. It's hot."

Edna grinned. "How terrible for him."

Lula moved the paste around, using the back of the spoon to make a pattern of swirling, circular loops and tiny ridges and valleys. "It ain't my problem if he don't want other men lookin' at me."

"We could make it worse. Someone's going to have to put this on the boys."

Lula thought about it and shook her head. "I don't wanna spoil your fun. I know you been lookin' forward to this."

Edna smiled beatifically. "I have. Oh yes I have." She scraped the drying paste together with her fingers and scooped it into a plastic bag. "Call the boys. Doctor Mazur is in the house."

* * *

Morelli and Lester were trying to explain Trenton for Belle and Garrick when Lula emerged from behind the tents, pulling her tee-shirt back over her head as she walked.

"Time to get your shirts off, guys. We got somethin' for the scratches."

"Not that green stuff?" Morelli asked, horrified.

"That's it. Better get your ass in gear, Edna's just about done."

"Oh dear God, no," Lester moaned. "She's going to put it on herself, isn't she?"

Lula grinned. "She's been lookin' forward to it all day. Don't keep her waitin'."

Lester leaned forward and banged his head against the ground. "No, no, no," he muttered into the dirt, "please, no."

Morelli looked helplessly at Lula's departing back. "Can't she do it?"

"Who, Lula?" Lester asked without looking up.

"Yeah."

Lester pushed himself up. "Take a really good look over there at Tank."

Morelli looked over. Tank was hacking great chunks of thornwood out of the wall with one of the machetes and piling it up beside him.

"You see the look on his face?" Lester continued.

"Yeah?"

"I've never seen him so pissed off in all the years I've known him. Nothing pisses Tank off, nothing. I've seen people try to shoot him and he acts like it's just another day at the office. Whatever's going on between those two, I guarantee that you don't want to be in the middle of it."

"You're really going to strip and let Edna rub that stuff all over you rather than risk annoying Tank?"

"Hell no, I'd rather eat worms. I don't plan to let that stuff anywhere near me in the first place."

"Good plan. Count me in."

"Are you two quite finished?"

Morelli and Lester both turned to see Garrick staring at them.

"What kind of warriors are you that you turn down medicine so lightly?" he carried on.

Lester shook his head. "You don't understand, man."

"I understand enough. Belle, up. Go with the woman, Lula?"

Belle nodded obediently, got to her feet and walked after Lula. Garrick fixed Lester and Morelli with a steely stare. "You two stay where I can see you until she gets back."

Morelli sighed. "You know, we really don't have any designs on her. We were just following the story."

"She's in my charge. You stay here until she's treated and clothed again."

Lester shrugged. "Whatever you say, man. Trust me, we're in no hurry. You'll find out."

* * *

Belle returned ten minutes later with the ragged sleeves of her long dress rolled back and a sharp, herbal smell following her. The exposed skin of her forearms showed several livid scratches coated with pale green paste. "She says to come around now. She's a nice lady, and it doesn't sting. I don't know what you're so worried about."

Garrick aimed a triumphant look at Lester and Morelli.

"Well, I guess you were right and we were wrong. Please, after you." Lester waved toward the tent.

Garrick nodded and walked away, stripping off his jerkin as he walked to reveal a back corded with muscle and the thin white lines of old scars.

"We should have warned him," Morelli murmured as he watched Garrick's departing back.

"We did try," Lester pointed out. "It's not our fault if he thinks he knows best."

They lapsed into silence and waited for Garrick to return.

* * *

He came back a good twenty minutes later.

Lester nudged Morelli. "Uh oh."

Morelli looked up. Garrick's eyes were wide and staring. His mouth opened and closed soundlessly.

"Are you okay… all right?" Morelli asked as he reached them and sat down.

Garrick shuddered. "The hands! The hands were everywhere. I'm sure I didn't have scratches in some of those places. She even put her hands on my…" He trailed off into silence.

Morelli patted his back in sympathy before turning to Lester. "I guess it's time. No-one has to know about this back home, right?"

"Never," Lester said with feeling.

"Swear?"

Lester clenched his fist and shook it in the air. "We are brothers in adversity. We know no fear. Let's do this."

They moved slowly toward the other side of the tents where Edna and her green paste waited for them.

* * *

The stifling heat finally gave way as the sun relaxed its grip on the grasslands and the shadow of the wall lengthened to cast its oppressive spell to the east again. It missed the tiny campsite entirely, leaving their little circle of flattened grass to bask in the sleepy warmth of the setting sun.

Lula left the circle carrying a bowl in one hand and a plastic bag in the other, and made her way across the open grassland between the camp and the thorn wall, her only companion the shadow that stretched out beside her and walked across the grass in tandem steps.

She stopped at the wall, where the crimson flowers seemed to pulse a sullen deep red in the fading light. She found what she was looking for in a hollow formed by the wall and a curved stack of branches piled higher than her head that cast its own dark shadow across the golden grass. The sloping rays pooled in the hidden space like warm honey. "Tank," she said softly.

He sat unmoving on the ground in the hollow that he'd created. "Yeah?"

She set the bowl and the bag on the ground and sat in front of him. "Show me your arms."

He didn't move.

She took one of his enormous hands in both of hers and pulled it toward her, straightening his arm and revealing the livid criss-cross of scratches that covered his wrist and arm. "Dumbass. Look what you did."

"We needed firewood."

"Yeah, I know. You got plenty. Come here." She put his hand in her lap, wrung out the piece of cloth that was soaking in the bowl and used it to bathe the scratches. Drops of warm water dripped onto her lap, soaking into her pants. She carefully laved all the scratches before pulling the other one into her lap too and repeating the action. When she was finished the water in the bowl was pink with blood.

She picked up the bag and dipped her fingers into the green paste inside. She smoothed the paste over each of the angry scratches, one by one.

When all the scratches were treated, she carried on without the paste, tracing the crook of his elbows and the curve of his biceps. She gradually eased up from her seat on the ground to kneel in front of him as she made her way up his arms to his broad shoulders and his neck. When she reached his neck she cradled his face between her hands and kissed him gently once, twice, three times.

On the third he wrapped both his arms around her and pulled her into him, pressing his face against her breasts. "You make me crazy sometimes," he muttered into her body, heating her skin with his breath.

She wrapped her own arms around his head and held him to her. "I love you." She rested her cheek against his head and stayed still, feeling the warmth of the setting sun against her back and the heat of his embrace at her front.

Minutes passed, and she wondered if he would keep her there all night. Finally he relaxed his hold on her and pressed his lips against her in earnest, dropping kisses onto the broad expanse of her breasts through her tee-shirt. He pulled it up to expose the softness of her belly and laid a line of kisses from her navel to her breasts.

She stripped the tee-shirt the rest of the way off and tossed it behind her before reaching to his waist and pulling his own tee-shirt out of his pants. She dragged it over his head and tossed it away to join her own before pushing him backwards and following him down to the ground. She kissed him hard, pushing her tongue into his mouth, seeking and finding his own there. Their tongues dueled frantically as they rolled on the flattened grass in their private hollow.

He unbuttoned her jeans and pushed them down over her hips, pressing kisses to her belly as he pulled her shoes off and dragged her pants over her feet and off.

She reached out to do the same, but as she unbuttoned his cargoes he grabbed her hands and pulled them away. "No," he said. "Just you."

She froze. "What? What do you mean just me?" She pushed him away. "Tell me you ain't still afraid of hurtin' me."

"I need a little time."

"No. You ain't got none. This is the first time we've had alone since we got stuck here and I want all of us. I want what we had before."

"Lu, I can't. I'm trying, but I just can't."

"This is hurtin' me more, you dumb son of a bitch."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah. So am I." She picked up her tee-shirt and pulled it back over her head, and dragged her pants back on. "I can't settle for this. I want us back, not you scared to touch me."

She stalked out of the hollow and across the grass, back to the camp and the others.

* * *

Tank came back ten minutes after her with an armful of branches from the thorn wall. He threw them down by the fire where Garrick was arranging two fish in a pan. More were hung on sticks to dry around the fire.

Lester grinned at him. "Look what we got! Turns out there's trout in that stream. Garrick flipped them clean out of the water."

"Good." He dropped the machete down next to his pack. "We move on in the morning. You might want to pass the word on to bathe in the stream while we can. Don't wash that green stuff off if you can help it."

"Sure thing."

* * *

A bundle of thin sticks tied tightly together was sitting next to Morelli's leather jerkin on his rolled up sleeping bag when he got back from the stream. Water dripped from his hair onto the fabric as he picked the sticks up and examined them. "What the hell is this?"

The sticks were long and thin, and twined around with long strands of the golden grass to keep them together and make a single shaft. More of the grass was twisted around one end to form a crude grip. He grasped it using the grip and swished it through the air experimentally.

A movement at the edge of his vision alerted him and he jumped back just in time to avoid Garrick's vicious slash at his ribs with a similar weapon. "What the fuck are you doing?"

Garrick responded with an overhead swing at his head.

This time he didn't move fast enough and the bunch of sticks dealt him a stinging blow to the ear. He shook his head and ignored the burning pain. "Have you gone insane? I told you we were no threat to her."

Garrick whirled around and brought the sticks down again in a slash that would have cut the eagle on his chest in half if it were a real blade.

Morelli brought his sticks up instinctively and blocked the attack. The force of the collision sent pains shooting through his wrists. "Jesus. You've completely lost it!"

Garrick stepped back with a grin. "Better."

As he stepped away, Morelli saw the others clustered by the tents watching the two of them. Belle and Edna were laughing and clapping, clearly delighted with the display. Lula looked worried, while Tank and Lester were just standing there making no move to come to his aid.

"How about some back-up?" he called as he circled slowly to keep his bundle of sticks between himself and Garrick. Garrick prowled ceaselessly from side to side, watching his movements carefully.

"Sorry man," Lester called back. "Can't interfere."

Morelli didn't get a chance to answer as Garrick moved in again, slashing at his thigh. He got his sticks in front of the blow in time but watched in dismay as Garrick twisted his wrist and hooked the bundle out of his hand and away behind him. He heard the others gasp.

Garrick nodded at the makeshift weapon. "Pick it up."

"Okay." Morelli leaned down, not taking his eyes off Garrick. As soon as his hand closed on the grass handle Garrick moved in, hacking at his neck.

This time Morelli swung his weapon up in a clumsy imitation of Garrick's slashing dance and forced the other up. He ducked underneath it and threw himself forward in a brutal headbutt to Garrick's midriff. As the older man fell back he followed him down with a flurry of punches in a style perfected over a hundred bar-room brawls. He could distantly hear the others whooping and cheering, but all of his attention was focused on the attack.

Garrick choked out a laugh as he went backwards. "All right! I yield."

Morelli stopped with his fist poised ready for another punch to the solar plexus. "For real?"

"Yes."

Morelli lifted himself off and backed away. "Better be." He stalked over to the others, ignoring Belle's shining eyes and Lula and Edna's blatant up and down assessment of his body. "So why the fuck didn't you help me?"

Tank shrugged. "Not how it's done."

"You want to explain that?"

Lester shrugged too. "Ranger does this to us all the time. Keeps us sharp."

"You're all fucking nuts." Morelli threw the bundle of sticks to the ground and stalked away from them.

* * *

He was sitting by the stream tossing twists of grass into the water and listening to the horse quietly crop the grass when Garrick found him and sat down next to him.

"You did well."

"Whatever."

"Your friend has asked us to come with you when you move on, help you find Ash. You know, the big one that looks like a giant."

"And?"

"I'll help you as much as I can, but I won't risk Belle. If I can find her family or a new chief and leave her safe, I'll find you and join you."

"Fine."

"I did it to the others too, you know. Tested them."

"I hope they beat the crap out of you."

"They could have, but then they're already warriors. They knew the game. You, on the other hand, only had your instincts to help you. I'll say it again: you did well."

Morelli didn't take his eyes off the water. "Thanks, I guess."

Garrick stood again and dropped the bundle of sticks into his lap. "Here. You'll need this when you start training in the morning. I'll see you at dawn."

"Training? What do you mean, training?"

Garrick just walked away.

* * *

Garrick and Belle travelled with them for three days, across the grasslands and back into the forest again. Every morning Garrick would throw the hated practice sword at Morelli and proceed to batter him with it under the guise of training. Every afternoon Edna would offer to dress his bruises with her green paste.

He had to admit that the stuff worked. The scratches from the thorns had healed quickly and cleanly. The only problem was that the stuff came with a price: Edna's wandering hands applying it and copping a feel on the way. Faced with a choice of that or bruises, the bruises were surprisingly easy to accept.

When Lester tossed a stolen plastic bag of paste into his lap on the second day, he decided that Lester might possibly be the best friend that a guy ever had.

* * *

On the morning of the fourth day, they walked into another village. Garrick looked relieved when he saw the wooden palisade in a field ahead of them. "At least some things still look normal."

As before, people stared at the newcomers, but there was an edge of fear that hadn't been present before. They didn't stop and stare; instead they sneaked furtive looks as they hurried past.

"What's going on?" Morelli asked. "They weren't this scared at the last place we visited."

"At a guess, Ash," Garrick said grimly, "but it could be anything. I need to ask around, find out what happened to our people, who's got the power around here, anyone that might need a warleader. I'll need you to take care of Belle for a few hours."

"Of course."

"Just remember that you don't need to touch her," Garrick went on.

Lester snorted. "You know, one day I'm going to kiss her just to give you a reason for that suspicious mind of yours."

Garrick slowly drew a belt knife and made a show of examining the blade. "You could. If you wanted to say goodbye to your lips."

Morelli sighed. "Garrick, put the knife away. You know damn well that she's safe with us. Lester, knock it off."

Lester grinned and gave him a mocking salute. "Yes, boss."

Tank shook his head. "Consider that an order from me, Santos."

"_Yes_, boss." This time Lester saluted with both hands.

"One day, Santos," Tank growled. "Go ahead, Garrick. We'll keep Belle with us. What are your plans?"

"I'm going to find out where our people went, or if I can't, somewhere else that Belle will be safe, stay long enough to make sure that she's settled, then I'll come after you. If Ash is still alive, I have a score to settle."

"What are you going to do?"

Garrick looked at him bleakly. "Don't ask unless you want to know the answer."

Tank nodded slowly. "Just let us interrogate her first."

"Interrogate?"

"Find out what we need to know."

Garrick nodded in turn. "Agreed."

"You could do us a favor and arrange us some provisions if you can. We can pay if they don't mind the face on the coins."

Garrick nodded once and strode away into the crowd. It parted before him, whispering, and closed behind him again.

Looking around, Morelli spotted a large trough in the open space in the middle of the village. He took the horse over to it and let her have a drink.

She stuck her head in gratefully and took several deep gulps of the dark water. When she was finished she lifted her head and blew out a big, gusty breath before brushing her wet, whiskered muzzle across the back of his neck, dribbling cold water down the back of his jerkin.

"Argh!" He sprang away. "Thanks, horse!"

She ignored his complaint and put her head down to the water again.

A female voice giggled behind him and he spun towards the sound. Belle was standing there, her eyes sparkling with laughter. "She did that on purpose."

"Sure felt like it."

"I made something for you." Belle brought a hand out from behind her back and held a yellowish object out to him shyly.

He took it and looked at the bundle of twisted, golden grass. "Thanks. What is it?"

"It's a wisp. You can use it to brush her." She indicated the horse that dwarfed the both of them. "If you ever forgive her for sharing her drink, that is."

"You have to brush them?"

Belle laughed again. "Of course you do! Don't you know anything about horses?"

"Not a damn thing."

The horse lifted her head from the water and nickered as if agreeing with him.

"And you can shut up," Morelli said dryly. "You know, my Grandmother has a name a lot like yours. She's called Bella."

They started walking slowly back toward the others, talking as they walked. The horse ambled behind them.

"What's she like?"

"Honestly? Scary, most of the time. But I always knew that she loved me."

"Sounds like Garrick."

"Did Garrick ever threaten to put the eye on you?"

"She's a witch?" Belle's eyes went round.

"I never thought so until this happened. I always thought she was just a crazy old lady. I didn't think there were witches at all."

"I wish there weren't. Then I'd still be home with my mother and father and my brother."

"I know." Morelli pulled her in to his side and hugged her briefly before releasing her. "It sucks."

She looked at him, brow wrinkled with confusion. "What? What sucks, my brother? He isn't a baby. He's ten."

"No, I meant… never mind. It's just a phrase. I don't even know where it comes from. I mean that it's rough, what happened to you."

"But why would anyone say sucks? It doesn't mean anything. Why not blows?"

"We say that too."

"And what does that mean?"

"Exactly the same as sucks."

"But how can it mean–"

"It just does."

"But that's just–"

"I know. Can we drop it?"

Belle nodded. "Some of the things you people say make my head hurt."

"You get used to it."

* * *

Garrick came back a couple of hours later leading two horses and carrying a jute sack over his shoulder and a bundle wrapped in oilcloth under his arm. He threw them to the floor at Tank's feet. Whatever was in the oilcloth clanked loudly. "Weapons," he said, "and your provisions. They accepted your coin happily enough."

"We already have weapons," Tank said. "But thank you."

Garrick eyed the handgun at his hip dubiously. "So you say. I have my doubts. Keep the blades anyway. There's a short sword for each of you. Morelli has some natural talent there, if he can control his temper for long enough."

"Hey!" Morelli interjected.

Garrick raised his eyebrows. "You see my point? Rise to the bait that easily and you're a soft target for any experienced warrior. Learn to control it." He returned his attention to Tank. "I found a contact, a chief two days west who lost his warleader to an infected wound last month. One of his men is here on business and we can go back to Fellbridge with him. I'm going to set it up now. We'll start looking for our people properly there." He moved his attention to Belle. "Get ready to go. We'll ride out shortly." He gave her the reins to the two horses and left again.

Morelli walked over to Belle. "Are you sure about this?"

"Of course. Where else would I go?" She stood up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. "Thank you. For waking me up and helping us get out. He won't say it, but he's grateful too. That's why he gave you the sword."

"Are you sure you're safe to go with him? He's… hard. A killer."

She nodded. "Garrick's been in charge of my safety since I was a little girl. He will have taken it hard that he failed. He loves me like a daughter, as much as my family ever did."

"You're sure?"

She smiled and patted his arm. "He's a warrior. I've lived among men like him my whole life. They don't tell you what they feel, you see it in their actions. You see a killer, but I see the man that watched over me for a hundred years. We'll be fine. And I think you'll see him again if he can get us settled in time to join you."

She looked across the square. "Time to look harmless," she whispered, "he's coming back."

Garrick joined them again and took the reins of the larger horse. "It's time. Mount up and let's go." He offered his hand to each of the men in turn. "Good luck with Ash, and don't trust anything you see."

Lula stuck her hand out too and he hesitated.

"Our women may be a little different from yours," Tank murmured. "Ignore them at your own risk."

Garrick took Lula's hand gingerly and shook it. "My apologies, Lula. I'm not familiar with your ways."

"S'alright," Lula said grudgingly.

"What about me?" Edna extended her hand, wiggling her fingers suggestively.

Garrick looked at the hand as if it was a live snake. He took it and shook it once before dropping it and stepping back.

Morelli bit back a grin as he watched Belle laughing silently behind Garrick from the back of the smaller horse. She waved to him as Garrick mounted the larger one and carried on waving as they disappeared into the bustle of the village.

"Damn," Tank muttered. "We could have done with some local help."

"I know what you mean, but you'll forgive me if my bruises disagree with you," Morelli answered with feeling.

"Since he's the only person we know who's even met Ash, he could have beaten your ass black and blue with my blessing," Tank said. "Let's move out."


	18. Chapter 18

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing._

Shadow Puppets 

Chapter 18

Ranger hit the button on the speakerphone and ended the call with relief. It was getting harder to keep the business under control from the end of a telephone; there were only so many excuses in the world for avoiding meetings and he'd used most of them more than once. When this was all over he was going to recruit someone to take over more of that part of the business.

He climbed down from the desk and walked to the sitting room to find Stephanie.

She wasn't there.

"Steph?"

The apartment was silent. He checked the bedroom and kitchen to find both empty.

"_Steph_."

That just left the bathroom. He'd made her promise not to leave the apartment unless she was covered by Bobby, and although a promise from Stephanie not to do something was as reliable as July snow, he'd thought she was taking the security risk seriously after the surveillance trip.

Chalk that one up to experience: not everybody finds solace in work. Instead she'd stormed into the apartment afterwards, sat on the couch in front of the TV and buried herself in a cooking show. Which was pretty much where she'd been ever since. And where he'd expected to find her now. Which led to the question: where the hell was she?

He checked the bathroom more out of thoroughness than any real expectation and recoiled in horror at the sight of her motionless body under the water in the tub.

Somehow her thick, black wool should have drifted in the water like normal hair. Instead it lay with her at the bottom of the tub like a heap of rags, just emphasising her otherness.

Ranger reached into the water, seized a handful of it and heaved.

She was a solid, unmoving weight.

Water soaked into his arm and the sudden drag almost pulled him in with her.

"Shit." He let go and pulled back. His right arm hung uselessly at his side and dripped a steady stream of water onto the bathroom carpet as he pulled the phone out of his pocket. "Bobby, crisis, get up here now."

A minute later Bobby and Hal slammed into the apartment. "What's going on?" Bobby asked.

Ranger pointed to the tub. "Steph's in there. Get her out, quickly."

Bobby reached a hand into the cold water and pulled her out. Water cascaded from her sodden body in a rush. Bobby held her over the water for a moment letting the waterfall die down to a trickle.

"Jesus, Bobby, she's not laundry," Ranger snapped. "Help her."

"Sorry boss." Bobby lowered her to the carpet. Water soaked into the carpet underneath her in a spreading stain.

Ranger pushed her shoulder gently. "Steph?"

She lay there unmoving.

"Can she drown?" Hal asked. "Should we give her CPR?"

"Well if she was normal we'd have to get the water out of her lungs," Bobby said, "so I guess we need to get the water out of her…" He trailed off.

"Agreed," Ranger said. "Do it."

"So do we wring her out like laundry?"

Hal winced. "If she's alive she's going to be really pissed."

"Or we could really hurt her," Bobby said.

Ranger looked at Stephanie helplessly before turning to Hal and shrugging his right shoulder. His sodden arm barely moved. "Test it on me first."

"Okay." Hal used his huge hands to squeeze the water from Ranger's arm.

Pain shot through Ranger's arm and he pressed his mouth closed to keep from shouting.

Hal saw it and stopped. "You okay, boss?"

"Just finish it," Ranger said, trying to speak normally through the pain.

Hal nodded and twisted the arm. The pain intensified into an agonising burn as water dripped out onto the carpet. Heat spread out through the rest of his body to join it.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Hal let go.

"Fuck," Ranger muttered as he flexed his fingers and rubbed his arm. "It's going to hurt her like hell."

"So what do we do?" Bobby asked.

Ranger looked at Stephanie again where she lay like a pitiful bundle of rags on the floor. "No choice. Do it. Just be as gentle as you can."

Bobby folded her arms and legs into her body until she was curled up into a ball and pressed down on her back. Sodden fabric squelched and the dark stain on the carpet spread as he gradually squeezed the water out of her body.

He stopped while she was still wet. "I don't want to do it too hard," he said. "I could really hurt her and not know it."

"Move to CPR then," Ranger said.

"Okay." Bobby tilted her head, put his mouth to hers and breathed air into her mouth. "Ugh," he muttered. "That feels just… nasty."

Ranger snarled. "Concentrate."

"Sorry boss." Bobby took a breath and breathed into her mouth again.

"Her chest isn't moving," Hal said. "I don't think it's working."

"Stop staring at her chest then," Ranger snapped. He knelt down next to her. "Steph," he said, "are you okay in there?"

She groaned and all the men sighed with relief.

"Jesus, Babe, you scared me half to death," Ranger said. "What were you doing in there?"

"Besides trying to shrink yourself," Bobby said.

Ranger glared at him.

"I felt dirty," Stephanie said as she uncurled painfully. "It's been weeks since I had a bath or shower."

"But the water's cold."

She just shrugged and didn't meet his eyes.

"Okay, have it your way. You want to lose some more water?"

"No." She jumped back with more animation that he'd seen in weeks. "I'll air-dry, thanks."

"Fine. Let's go sit on the roof. Away from the edge."

She glared at him. "Jeez, give it a rest. So I made a mistake. I'm fine."

"Of course you are." It was his turn to not to meet her eyes.


	19. Chapter 19

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing._

Shadow Puppets 

Chapter 19

The team walked deep in the forest. It seemed like it was never long before the forest was around them. Villages and grasslands appeared in places, but eventually the forest always claimed the land again, like an ever-encroaching sea of trees waiting for their chance to swallow the tiny pockets of civilization as if they had never existed.

They reached an area dominated by huge, spreading horse-chestnut trees, their branches laden with prickly, green fruit. The carcasses of more were scattered on the floor below. Occasionally the deep, glossy brown of a horse chestnut showed through the spiky, green carapace, the treasure trove of childhood play.

"Holy crap!"

Lula's expletive, quickly hushed by Tank, dragged Morelli's eyes up from the debris under the trees. He caught sight of the three furred shapes just before they disappeared into the depths of the forest. There had definitely been one large one, one medium one, and one small one.

"You know, I could murder a bowl of porridge right now," Edna said wistfully.

There was a sharp click as Tank drew his handgun and made a show of cocking it. "Just so you know, I'm going to shoot the first person that suggests going to look for the house," he growled. "Are we clear?"

"Crystal." Lester put his hands on Edna's diminutive shoulders and turned her away from the direction that the three bears had taken. "No problem. We're not even hungry. Never even crossed our minds, _did it_, Edna?"

"I suppose not," she said, still looking after the bears. "I sure would have liked to see if it really existed though."

Tank put his gun away again. "Well you feel free to come back on your own when this is all over. Right now, we keep walking."

* * *

The slender tower in its circle of greensward pierced the sky like an ivory needle. They circled it cautiously.

"At least sixty feet." Lester squinted up into the sky at the pinnacle. "Looks different at the top. Kind of cloudy."

"So where's the door?" Morelli circled it again, tapping it at intervals to find anywhere that sounded hollow.

"Were you expecting one?" Tank murmured without taking his eyes off the top of the tower.

"Not really, no. But it would have been nice. Garrick didn't say anything about this one, did he?"

Lester still had his eyes fixed on the top of the tower too. "That doesn't mean anything, just that it happened after they went to sleep. Morwen said that there's a trail of this kind of thing between her village and Ash."

"Then we're on the right lines then, 'cause this don't look natural." Tank tapped his fingers against the ridged wall of the tower. "No joints, no marks, and everywhere else we've seen there's mud walls and straw roofs. This looks more like a tree than a tower."

"Knowing what we know, can we afford to walk away?" Morelli asked. "There could be someone trapped in there."

Lester stared intently at the cloudy area near the top. "I say we try to climb it and look at that spot at the top. We might get more information if we can break into this place. What have we got to lose?"

"How 'bout the fall to the ground that splashes your head like a watermelon?" Lula muttered to Edna behind him.

Tank followed Lester's gaze and made a decision. "Okay, see if you can get up there. _Remember_, there ain't no emergency room. You take it slow and you take it careful."

"Got it." Lester was already doing another circuit, looking for his route up the strange tower. He took a hold of one of the uneven ridges that covered the tower like bark and scrambled up the side.

He heard Morelli whistle. "Damn. He missed his calling as a cat burglar."

Lester risked a look back to see Tank stare blankly at Morelli. He snorted and carried on climbing.

Morelli's voice floated up to him. "Anything you want to tell me, Tank?"

"Nope. You just keep your eyes on the woods in case of company."

Lester grinned to himself. Tank knew the drill. Morelli was a good guy, but what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

They were already looking smaller as he climbed the tower like a spider, moving sideways occasionally to find better handholds.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Lula voice sounded far away. "He's a real long way up. He falls from there, he's gonna go splat like a bag of Jello."

"He's the best there is," Tank answered.

Lester settled into an easy rhythm of finding hand and footholds and pulling himself up, one step at a time. The tower was a fairly simple climb, covered with bumps and ridges, nothing like a building at all. He had yet to see any kind of join or construction mark. The sun felt warm on his back as he ascended slowly and steadily.

He slowed down as he approached the top of the tower. From this angle the cloudy area looked cleaner, almost like a frosted glass window. The surface was rippled and whorled like a frozen sea. The edge of the area was even stranger; there wasn't one. It flowed continuously with the rest of the tower – it just _was_.

He edged closer until he was directly in front of it, balancing carefully on a knot in the tower wall. He reached out a finger and touched the frosted area. It was cold and hard, like glass.

Something slammed into the other side of the glass a few inches from his face and he recoiled in shock. He heard a gasp from below as he teetered on his tiny perch. He leaned forward, pressing his face against the uneven surface while he recovered his balance.

He came face to face with a dark-haired girl on the other side. She had both hands pressed to the glass and her face was pale and tearstained.

She banged her hands against the glass again and shouted at him soundlessly. It didn't take much to realize that her words were: "Help me." She shouted them over and over again as she pounded against the glass with her fists.

"Tank!" he yelled. "There's someone in here, a girl!"

Tank's voice was distant when he called back. "Can you see an escape route?"

He gestured to the girl to get away from the window.

She shook her head, eyes pleading.

"Go on." He gestured more firmly and she took a tiny step back. He waved her further and she moved back, step by reluctant step, eyes fixed on him the whole time as if she was afraid that he would disappear.

He looked around the room that she was in, squinting and shifting to see past the ripples in the window. She was trapped in one circular room at the top of the tower. There was a rumpled blanket on the floor by the wall. There was no way in or out of the room that he could see; she was sealed in.

"Nothing!" he shouted down to Tank. "Just a few hollows in the wall."

"Can you get round the other side?"

"Hold on." He eased his way around the side of the tower, doing a complete circuit. It was exactly the same all the way round.

He got back to his spot in front of the window and found the girl back there, pressed against it and looking panicky. "It's okay sweetheart, I'm still here," he murmured, knowing that she couldn't hear him but saying it anyway.

He called down to the team watching from below. "Nothing. It's all the same except for the window."

"What's it like?" Morelli called up.

"Whatever it is, it's not true glass. It's part of the wall."

"Can we shoot it out without hurting her?"

"Let me see." He turned back to the girl and smiled reassuringly. She watched him anxiously as he pantomimed lying down and covering her face. She stepped back to the opposite wall and crouched down, looking back at him for guidance.

He nodded and put one arm over his head, wobbling slightly on his perch as he did so.

She put her arms over her head, peeping out to watch him. He nodded again. He watched her for a moment to make sure that she stayed there before climbing quickly down the tower. "She's down on the floor. Do it quickly before she gets up."

Tank lifted his gun and fired three rounds at the cloudy window.

Morelli squinted up at the top of the tower. "Looks intact. You must have missed. Go again."

Tank and Lester exchanged raised eyebrows before Tank fired another three rounds at the window.

Morelli shook his head.

"I hit it," Tank growled. "I'm sure. Lester, go check. Carefully."

Lester nodded and climbed back up to the window. It was scarred but intact. He peered through it. The girl was still crouched on the floor. "She's okay, but the window's intact," he called down. "Just a few scratches."

"Worth another try?" Tank called back.

Lester scrutinized the window and frowned. "There's something odd. Stand by." He watched the window for a few moments. "Damn it, it's healing! The damage is disappearing."

Lester watched Morelli throw something to the ground far below and start cursing. He couldn't quite make out the words, but he could guess from Lula's and Edna's expressions that there was some choice language involved. He gestured to the girl to stay down and keep her face covered, and climbed down again.

"Let's go again."

This time they all raised their guns, including Lula and Edna. The sound was deafening. Lester was climbing again before it had died away.

When he looked through the window this time, the girl was huddled on the floor, shaking. He tapped on the window. "Come on, it's okay. Look at me."

Finally she looked up, still trembling. "That's it, good girl." Satisfied that she was safe, he examined the window. "Nothing. Same as before."

He made his way down the side of the tower, following a now-familiar route. He dropped the last couple of feet to the ground. "Now what?"

"I don't know." Tank stared at the side of the tower that stood there, unyielding. "We didn't come prepared for a building assault."

Lula shook her head frantically. "We can't leave her there. We just can't. Tank–"

"Enough. Let me think."

"We have to get her out."

With a low growl, Tank reloaded, strode to the bottom of the tower and emptied his gun into the wall at point blank range. The bullets sank into the surface with a dull thud and lodged there.

The tower shuddered slightly but held. He snarled and walked over to the horse where she stood placidly, the packs slung over her saddle.

She flattened her ears and swung her head at him as he approached.

He grabbed the soft end of her nose and glared up into her eyes. "Not. Now."

She rolled her eyes at him but held still.

After a few seconds he released her and turned to the packs on her back, daring her to react. He pulled out one of the machetes and stalked back to the wall, where he raised his hands above his head and brought the blade down in an overhead swing, slamming it into the ridged, uneven wall where the bullet holes showed. It bit into the surface.

He yanked it clear and hacked into the wall again in the same place. The tower shuddered again. He swung again and again, tearing and hacking at the wall. It splintered and split under his pounding assault, showing pale green beneath the rough, bark-like exterior. Green sap welled from the wound and trickled down to the ground where it soaked into the dirt.

Tank swung again and again, until sweat beaded his face and his black tee-shirt was soaked. He stripped it off and threw it to the ground, barely stopping his attack on the tower to do it.

Silent and grim, he hacked and chopped at the wall again and again.

Lester exchanged a glance with Morelli. Morelli shook his head slowly and drew a finger across his throat.

He nodded in agreement. "Tank."

Tank ignored him and continued his assault.

"Fuck," Lester muttered. He moved forward and braced himself. Timing his move carefully to avoid the blade, he snaked his hand out and caught at Tank's arm. "Stop, man."

"No."

"Look."

The wall was healing, closing in front of their eyes. The damaged bark knitted together, leaving just a roughened scar behind.

Lester took the machete from Tank with his other hand. "Look at the blade."

It was ruined, chipped and blunted.

"It's not going to happen," Morelli said quietly.

"But the girl–" Lula's voice was tinged with desperation.

"Is beyond our help."

"At the moment," Edna added.

They all spun to look at her.

"Explain," Tank said shortly.

"It's her construct. Part of her."

"Ash?"

Edna nodded.

"Then when we find her, the bitch lets her go or dies. Move out." Tank threw the ruined blade to the ground at the foot of the tower, picked up his discarded tee-shirt and started walking without waiting for the rest of them to catch up.

They fell in behind him without a word. Lula's eyes were suspiciously red but her face was set and she stared resolutely ahead. Edna walked next to her, whispering something to her. Morelli followed them, the horse plodding so close to him that no-one could have stepped between them. Occasionally he reached out and laid a hand on her neck or shoulder without looking at her, as though he didn't even know that he was doing it.

Lester cast a look back at the tower. It was hard to see at this distance, but he thought he saw a white face pressed against the window.


	20. Chapter 20

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing._

Shadow Puppets 

Chapter 20

Tank's thoughts were a tangle of anger and worry as he strode the trees trying to find a route. He needed Ranger now, badly. He had no idea how the man managed all the conflicting demands on him. This had started out as a mission to find a cure for him and Stephanie, plain and simple. Instead, as well as the mission he had two women to protect, a horse tagging along just because it wanted to and now this desperate girl who needed a savior. It burned to walk away from children imprisoned in towers. He needed Ranger to make the moral judgments and come up with a plan. He didn't make plans, he executed them. He desperately wanted his old role back as silent back up, whatever Lula thought of the new him.

A rustle in the bushes ahead snapped him back to attention. All thoughts were banished in favor of the simplicity of combat training; potential threat ahead, be ready.

He raised a hand to silently signal the rest of his motley group to stop. When he was satisfied that they had, he hefted his gun and crept forward, every sense on high alert.

"I'm no threat." A golden haired youth stepped out from behind a tree, hands out in front of him.

Tank didn't lower his gun. "And you are?"

"Jack. I heard that you were looking for help to find Ash."

"And you thought you'd offer yours. Why?"

"Why not? She's no friend to me, and I have business in the area anyway."

Tank looked the youth up and down, taking in the long knife tucked in the boy's leather pants and the bow across his body. "What kind of business?"

He grinned. "It's a long story. What you really need to know is that, right now, you're going the wrong way. If you don't start bearing east you'll miss her. I think I'm worth taking a chance on, don't you?"

Tank cursed internally. He _really_ needed Ranger. Having to make decisions under pressure was going to end up killing him. He gritted his teeth and made a decision. "All right. Show me where we need to go."

Jack doffed his green cap and bowed. "Wonderful. Follow me."

* * *

Jack stuck to Tank as they went in their new direction, chattering and directing a constant stream of questions at him. Where did he come from, how long had he been in the area and what was he going to do when he found Ash?

Each time Tank answered shortly, giving away a minimum of information. It didn't seem to deter him though. When he wasn't asking questions he was pointing out sights; the mountain to the west where the talking animals were said to have come from, the river that caused flash floods last year, the caves where he sometimes sheltered when he left his village on business.

Tank noted that he was still vague about his 'business', pronouncing it long and boring, and pointing out a patch of edible mushrooms instead. When the mushrooms were all collected he found a nut tree and scrambled up it, throwing down nuts for Tank to catch.

Before long their packs were filled with an astonishing amount of produce to supplement the provisions that Garrick had bought for them.

"I'm useful, aren't I?" Jack beamed. "You definitely need me around. I know somewhere good to sleep around here too. Follow me."

He led them to a wide clearing crossed by a tiny stream. "This is a good campsite. I've used it lots of times before. There's good hunting around here too. What kind of weapons do you have anyway? Do you have bows? Anything else good for hunting? What was that thing that you had earlier?"

"Never mind." Tank wasn't about to start showing this capering youth how to use a gun. "Lester's the hunter. Lester, you want to see what you can find around here? Take Morelli with you, too."

Lester got up from the log he'd found to sit on. "Sure thing. Let's go see what we can find to eat around here. After you, kid."

The two men followed Jack into the forest, leaving Tank to set up the tents with Lula while Edna looked for firewood.

"What's his deal anyway?" Lula asked as she threaded tent poles through canvas. "Why does he want to be your new best friend?"

"Hell if I know, but we don't tell him anything we don't have to and we don't give him a gun to try out, just in case."

"But if we don't trust him, why are we following him?"

Tank threw the flysheet over the top of the tent he was working on and pegged it down at the corners. "Don't see that we've got much choice. We don't know where this bitch is. We could walk right past her and never know it. Right, this one's done. You want to move our stuff into it and I'll finish the other one?"

"I'm gonna bunk with Edna tonight. Keep her company."

Tank stopped. "Are you still pissed at me?"

Lula shrugged. "The way I see it, we ain't working no more. No reason to keep on goin' like this." Lula turned her back before he could answer and fixed her eyes on the tent as if it was suddenly the most interesting thing in the world.

The hunting party picked that moment to arrive back swinging a pair of birds apiece.

"Kid wasn't lying," Lester said. "They pretty much flew straight at us. It was like shooting fish in a barrel."

Tank frowned. "I didn't hear any shots."

"Didn't need them. The kid's a demon with that bow of his."

"I'd like to see your weapons," Jack said hopefully. "Tomorrow?"

"Maybe," Tank muttered. "I'm going to see if Edna's found any firewood." He stalked off into the forest alone.

* * *

The forest grew dense the following day. Thick, dark conifers crowded the path and stole the light so that they walked in perpetual gloom. The deep carpet of needles on the ground muffled even the horse's footfalls. Jack's relentless chatter was unnaturally loud in the oppressive silence.

"Not much further till we're back in the open forest, then I know some good places. We're only about two days from Ash's place now; it's by a big lake. I hope you have a plan, though. She's dangerous. And I still haven't seen your weapons. Do you have any special weapons for killing witches?"

* * *

In the late afternoon the trees came to an abrupt end. They ran up to the edge of a rocky shelf and stopped there. The path continued over the lowest part of the shelf. The rock sloped up steeply on each side, forming a narrow pass. They'd have to go through in single file.

Tank stopped, forcing them all to stop behind him. "No. We're not going through there."

"Of course we are," Jack insisted. "We have to. If we don't we'll have to turn around. We'll lose at least a day if we have to go on to the next pass."

"We turn around," Tank growled. "Find another route."

"But they're all like this. I know this area. Ash is there for a reason. It's hard to get through, less chance of attack. Do you want to reach her or not?"

Tank narrowed his eyes. "And why are you so desperate to take us to Ash anyway? We still don't know your business. Why are you helping us?"

Jack looked at each of them in turn, appealing. "Because she has my mother."

Lula watched him closely. Something about Jack was making her skin prickle. If he had been a john back in her street days, she'd have been looking for the other girls. He felt very wrong. She thought that maybe Tank had the same kind of feeling. He was staring at the boy like he wanted to see right through to his bones.

"So why didn't you say anything before?"

"You were strangers. I wasn't sure if you'd help me."

"You didn't think we'd trust you?"

"No."

"Well here's the thing: I don't. Climbing through there is going to leave us strung out like sitting ducks. We turn back. Now." Tank turned away from the narrow pass.

"That's a pity," Jack said behind him. "It would have made things much easier for everyone. Now the humans have to be brought into this."

He whistled sharply. A dark shape rose from the top of the rocky shelf and dropped down on Tank, knocking him flat. At the same time a host of dark clad men emerged from their cover in the dense conifers, all with bows trained on them.

Lula froze in horror as she watched Jack plant a boot on the back of Tank's neck and rest a blade at the base of his skull.

Morelli and Lester, combat trained, reached for weapons instead.

"Don't," Jack said sharply and pressed the blade in a little. Lula's stomach flipped over as a thin stream of blood ran down Tank's neck to soak into the pine needles. They both lifted their hands into the air away from their guns.

"We only want the giant," Jack called to the men that surrounded them. "Leave the others unless they interfere. If they're still here after a minute, kill them."

"You treacherous little bastard," Tank growled into the dirt. "I knew there was something wrong about you."

"Give your instincts some credit," Jack sneered. The chattering child act was over. "Not many of your kind don't know about me. You really must be from far away. Did you honestly think you could come to human territory without someone hunting you down?"

Tank didn't answer, and the question hung in the air unanswered. The silence stretched out.

Unable to stand the tension, Lula spoke instead. "So you might as well tell us who you are. Any fool can see you just waitin' for us to ask."

A smug grin split his face. "I'm Jack the Giant Killer."

She shook her head in disbelief. "Oh you stupid little asshole. He ain't no giant."

"Enough," Jack snarled. "Leave now unless you want to die with this thing."

"Lester," Tank shouted from the ground. "Get them out of here."

"Got it," Lester answered. "Lula, Edna, move. Now."

"We can't just leave him," Lula objected.

"Shut up and move." Lester took her arm and pulled her away.

"No. And don't you be tellin' me what to do, asshole."

"Tank wants you out of here. We don't have any other choices that won't kill him. So you go. Now _move_." He grabbed her arm again. "Morelli, you got Edna?"

"Right here."

"Then we're out of here."

"But Tank–" Lula couldn't take her eyes off him where he lay on the ground surrounded by armed men.

"Later."

"I ain't leaving him."

"Lula." Lester pulled her close and hissed in her ear. "If you make a fuss they're going to kill you too. There's at least fifteen of them and they're all ready to fire. We have no choice."

The trees blurred behind the film of tears as she ran with Lester away from Tank and the mob that surrounded him.

* * *

They ran until Lula's lungs were bursting and the sky pulsed pink in front of her eyes. Lester still had a bruising grip on her arm.

"We need to stop," she puffed.

"Not yet."

"Yes." She dug in her heels and pulled back, forcing him to let go. The pain in her arm flared then disappeared.

Unable to stop in time, Morelli ran past her with Edna clinging to his back and the horse at his heels. They straggled to an untidy stop and returned to where Lula and Lester faced each other.

Lula put her hands on her knees and breathed deeply, trying to force air back into her lungs. "We gotta go back," she wheezed.

"No." Lester was breathing heavily too, but not nearly as much as her. "We're not far enough yet. We need to get clear and make a proper plan."

She straightened up and glared at him. "There ain't no time. We can't let him die."

"If we don't plan properly, we all die." He took hold of her arm again and pulled.

This time she fought him, pulling her arm out of his grasp. "Let go of me, asshole. There's no time for this."

"There will be," he said through gritted teeth, "but first I need to get you safe. Now _come on_." He grabbed her arm again and turned to start dragging her, almost crashing into the horse's broad shaggy rump in the process.

"Morelli," he snapped. "Will you get this walking carpet out of the way?"

The horse took umbrage. Laying her ears flat against her head and squealing, she swung her rump around and knocked him flying. Lula's arm went with him, making her yelp with pain. She fell heavily to the ground where Lester lay still next to her.

Morelli reached down and helped her get up on to her knees.

"What the hell just happened?" she asked.

He picked up a fist sized stone lying on the ground by Lester's head. "Looks like he hit his head."

He rolled Lester over on to his back. "He's out cold."

"Well you take care of him. I got business back that way." Lula got the rest of the way up and hobbled the few yards over to the grassy patch where the horse had retreated to. She ignored the flattened ears and rolling eyes to pull an automatic pistol from one of the packs.

"Lula, wait."

"What?" She turned to glare at Morelli. "You got somethin' to say?"

"I have. You know the problem with Ranger and his men?" He followed her over and took another gun from the pack, followed by a couple of extra clips. He passed one over to her. "They're all too damn quick to sacrifice themselves."

He tucked the extra clip into his jerkin and tied the horse securely to a nearby tree. "Edna, can you watch sleeping beauty till we get back?"

"Of course I can. Just you bust a cap in that little shit's ass for me."

"Deal," Lula answered grimly. "We'll be back." She set off back the way she had come with Morelli beside her.

* * *

They crept back to where they had left Tank and took cover in the same conifers that their attackers had used. Jack and his men were still there. They had a fire burning now, and a collection of blades heating in the flames. It looked like Jack had plans for his latest giant.

Tank lay motionless on the ground, his hands tied behind his back. His ankles were tied with a line that ran around a nearby tree. He wasn't going anywhere.

"Is he still alive?" Morelli breathed in her ear.

"They better hope so or they goin' the same way," she murmured.

She put the gun down in front of her and pulled her jeans off.

Morelli glanced at her and did a double take. "Ah, Lula? What're you doing?"

"I'm givin' them somethin' to think about," she said through her tee-shirt as she pulled it over her head. "You notice the way all the women around here wear dresses that cover them right up to their neck and down to their feet? I'm guessin' that they don't let 'em fight either. That means they don't know 'bout guns and they don't know 'bout women like me."

"You're crazy."

"And that asshole on the floor there is mine. I need him back so I can kick his ass for sendin' me away like that."

She dropped her panties on top of the pile of clothes in front of her and picked up her gun again. "Now you get ready to shoot as many of those bastards as possible, 'cause I don't know how long they're gonna stay surprised."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Oh yeah. Time for them to get a look at a proper woman."

She stood up and strolled naked into the clearing, weapon clutched in her hands the way she'd seen it in the movies. "Hey Jack," she called. "We got unfinished business."

The response was gratifying. Jack's men stopped in their tracks, jaws hanging. Their bows stayed by their sides.

"You wanted to know what we got?" she asked. "Check it out."

She lifted her gun and started firing. The blood roared in her ears, making the clatter of gunfire dull and distant. She was dimly aware of Morelli firing too, and of men being scythed down like rows of wheat.

The sight of their comrades falling galvanized the rest into action. Too late, Lula saw a large bearded man rise and race towards her. He slammed a fist into her face, splitting her lip. She reeled and fell back, her shots sailing harmlessly into the air.

He followed her down onto the hard ground, reaching for her throat. Instinctively she brought a knee up and slammed it into his balls.

It didn't stop him but it slowed him down and took him off balance as he pinned her to the ground. She fought hard, biting and scratching at his face, raising a deep welt on his face that dripped blood into her eyes and turned the world red. He snarled wordlessly, put his hands around her throat and squeezed, his breath foul in her face.

She bucked and writhed underneath him, fighting to get away. She managed to get the gun between them and fired once.

Lack of air had made her dizzy and she watched in dazed slow motion as his body jolted and fell forward, pinning her to the ground.

* * *

Tank tried to ignore the pain screaming through his arms and legs and concentrate on getting free as the fight got nearer and nearer to him. As he wrenched at his bonds, Jack appeared above him. The sun behind him shadowed his face and turned his golden hair to flames.

"Your human whore is back for you," he hissed, his voice twisted with fury, "but she won't get you back alive." He produced a long bladed knife and stepped forward.

Tank braced himself to drive upward in one last desperate attempt to head-butt his tormentor before he could cut his throat and let his life pour out onto the pine needles.

He didn't get the chance. A clatter of automatic gunfire deafened him and Jack's face disappeared. Another appeared in its place, and Tank wondered if Jack had cut his throat already and he was dead without knowing it. It was the only reason that he could think of for why he would be looking up at a naked, heavy breasted woman with the sun shining through a halo of red afro hair. Only somehow he didn't see angels being covered with blood, let alone toting automatic weapons. He squinted and blinked hard.

She bent down to pick up the fallen knife and the sun no longer obscured her features.

"Lula?"

"That's me." She sliced through the ropes at his wrists and ankles. "Can you get up?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Rescuin' you, asshole. And don't you ever try to tell me what to do like that again." She wiped the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand, and it was suddenly the most erotic thing that he'd seen in his life. His groin stirred as he took in the entirety of the naked warrior woman kneeling in front of him.

"Your blood?"

"Hell no. Well, just some of it. It don't hurt."

"Good." He pulled her down on top of him and kissed her hard, feeling her bare breasts crushed against him and tasting the coppery blood from her split lip.

"You're amazing," he mumbled into her mouth.

"Hold that thought." She pushed herself up, pressing down on his groin and making him groan with desire.

"Morelli!" she yelled. "Go back for the others. But don't rush."

He heard Morelli's laughter as she dropped back down around him and reminded him exactly why he wanted every crazy, blood-stained, full-figured inch of her.

* * *

They were dressed and waiting when Morelli returned with Lester and Edna. Lester was walking stiffly and sporting a livid bruise on his temple. He wolf whistled when he saw Lula in Tank's arms.

"Finally. Who'd have thought it would take near death at the hands of a homicidal teenager to fix you two. How the hell did you manage to take them all down anyway?"

Lula met Morelli's eyes and he shook his head once.

"Nothing but good shootin'," she lied. "I don't know why you chickened out and made us run in the first place."

He stared at her for a long moment.

She met his gaze blandly and shrugged.

Lester gave in. "Whatever. We'd better get out of here anyway. Hey, are you okay?"

Lula was rubbing her back. "Fine. I must have got pine needles in my clothes while I was fighting, that's all. Edna, you got any more of that green shit?"

"Sure." Edna pulled a bag of paste out of her pocket and raised the back of Lula's tee-shirt. "Oh my. Your back is raw. What, were you rolling around in the pine needles while you were fighting?"

"Pretty much."

"Your shirt is fine though. How did you manage that?"

"No idea." Lula was glad that Edna was behind her. "It's startin' to hurt now though."

"We'll fix that. Just stay off your back for a while."

"No problem."

"More of a problem than it was yesterday, maybe."

Lula tried to keep a serious face and failed. She felt herself grinning stupidly. "S'okay. Just means I get the top for a while."

Edna patted her shoulder gently. "I'm happy for you. You might want to keep the noise down from now on though. We heard you screaming about a mile away. If Joseph hadn't stopped us you might have had company earlier."

Lula felt her cheeks burn, but the grin stayed.


	21. Chapter 21

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing._

_I'm stepping up the posting rate because I promised someone a story and I can't settle to it until I've put this one to bed._

Shadow Puppets

Chapter 21

Stephanie had hoped that it would feel more satisfying. The first one had been, a little. The garbage disposal had swallowed the Hershey bar with a mechanical snarl that mirrored the way she felt inside and she'd felt a little curl of satisfaction at the destruction.

But it hadn't lasted past the third bar. She'd fed it candy bars, doughnuts and cake and all she felt was empty.

"Babe."

She looked up, and Ranger was there watching her.

"What are you doing?"

She shrugged. "Nothing."

He cast a deliberate eye over the candy piled next to her on the counter.

She followed his gaze. "So?"

"Why are you putting candy down the garbage disposal?"

"I'd have thought you'd approve."

"Cut the crap, Steph. What's going on?"

"I thought it would make me feel better."

"Because you can't eat them."

"It was an idea."

"And do you feel better?"

"No." She leaned over and fed a Snickers bar into the disposal anyway, leaning over to watch its demise. The blades sliced and ground it to sticky pulp in a whirl of steel.

"_Steph_."

The edge in his voice dragged her attention back to him and she realized that her face was a few inches from the blades.

He reached up and dragged her off the counter by her ankle to land in a heap on the floor. He picked her up and held her by the shoulders. "You have to stop this, Steph."

"Stop what? I can't _do_ anything to stop. I just hide in this apartment and wait for someone to save me. And this time you can't do it because you need saving too. If we even can be saved. Sitting here waiting for things to happen doesn't work for me. I'm helpless and it's driving me nuts."

Ranger gave her a searching look and the way he held her changed. The grip on her shoulders eased but at the same time his stance became predatory. "You know, this doesn't have to be the end of the world. There are still ways you could relieve tension."

"Like what? All my usual methods are out. Hell, if I tried to use my shower massager, Ella would have to put me in the tumble drier afterwards."

"Yeah, but there's still one of the three F's left." He leaned in close, his eyes fixed on hers, his voice a whisper. "Can't feed, can't fuck. So, the question is, what _can_ you do?"

She stared at him.

He moved in even closer, until she expected sparks of static to crackle across the gap between the layers of felt and breathed one word in her ear. "Fight."

"You have got to be kidding me."

"Think about it. We're made of felt. We can't get hurt, as long as we avoid fire and blades."

"We still feel pain."

"It's no fun without the prospect of pain. No rush."

"You're sick."

"I warned you about that a long time ago. Too late to run now. So, what do you say?" He grinned. "Do you want to try to hurt me?"

She moaned and slumped over, and he leaned over her with sudden concern.

"Steph?"

She waited until he was hovering over her and brought her head up hard, smashing it into his face. It should have shattered his nose, but instead it just threw his felt body up and away to land on the floor with a soft thump.

"Let's do it."

"Good move," he said as he sat up. "Can you take it too?"

"I'm ready to find out."

"Remember you said that." He sprang to his feet and charged at her.

"Shit!" she yelped, and bolted for the door.

He was on her before she got halfway there. He picked her up in a parody of a bridegroom's lift and threw her against the wall. She hit it and slid down it to the ground, breathing hard out of habit rather than need.

He waited in the middle of the room watching her. "Peace?"

She nodded and he joined her on the floor.

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

"How do you feel now?"

"Alive. Exhilarated. And turned on as hell."

"_De aquí no hay retorno cariño mío. Bienvenida a la oscuridad_."

***Welcome to the dark side, my love. No turning back now.***

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Want to stop now?"

"Never. Hit me."

He picked her up by the neck and threw her across the room.

* * *

"Hey Bobby," Hal called from the monitors, "we have activity at the Anderson's warehouse, camera nine. I think it's just a cat though. Can you activate the other camera and check that side for me?"

"Sure." Bobby walked over and called up the image of a door on another monitor.

Something moved at the corner of his vision and he spun to watch open mouthed as a brawling mass of puppet limbs rolled through the doorway and into the control room. As he looked on, the tangle separated itself into Ranger and Stephanie.

Stephanie backed up and moved behind a chair as Ranger stalked her.

"Give in?" he said as he cornered her by the filing cabinets.

"Hell no." She crouched down slightly and hurled herself forward to try to barrel through the gap, past his outstretched hand.

He lunged and grabbed her hair as she passed, yanking her back and throwing her against the filing cabinet with a soft thump. He held her there by the throat and pressed his body against hers, pinning her against the metal. "How about now?"

She writhed against him in a sinuous movement and murmured, "Never," before bringing a knee up sharply between his legs and shoving him up and away from her.

She raced past his prone body and back out through the doorway.

A second later Ranger got up laughing and said, "Oh, you're paying for that one," before following her.

Bobby stared at the doorway for a long moment. "What the fuck was that?" he said to the empty air.

"The closest they can get to it, I'm guessing," Hal said behind him.

"But I didn't say that," he added hastily as Bobby swung around to stare at him instead. "It's none of my business."

Bobby continued to stare at him.

"Can we just look for this damn cat?" Hal asked desperately.

"Cat. Yeah." Bobby shook his head and turned back to the screens. "Let's look for this damned cat."

* * *

Stephanie sat on the parapet and dangled her legs over the street far below, this time with Ranger sitting next to her doing the same. They watched the people far below, going about their lives unaware of their existence.

"I guess I finally know why I can't quit my job," she said.

"Why?"

"This. The challenge. The fear. Even the pain. Living on the edge is addictive."

"It's what we are underneath all the layers of civilization. Most people never find out what they are."

"What are we?"

"At the core, primal. Animals. Feed, fight, fuck. Survive."

"You're crazy."

"But you're not thinking about falling off the building any more, are you?"

"No."


	22. Chapter 22

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing._

Shadow Puppets 

Chapter 22

The team watched the house from across the lake, sharing the three sets of field glasses between them. It nestled in the cradle of a smooth platform that rose up from the ground and opened like a lotus flower to cup the paler green, rounded structure atop it. The door and window were unmistakable. Whatever else it was, it was definitely a house.

"Does that thing remind anybody of the tower?" Lester asked. Tank and Morelli both nodded.

"I think that maybe we've found what we're looking for," Tank murmured without taking his eyes off the house. "I guess your woman was right, Santos. Follow the trail of frightened villages north."

Lester raised his eyebrows. "My woman?"

"You know who I mean. Back in the first village."

"Yeah, I know who you mean, just where the hell did all the 'your woman' crap come from?"

"Jesus, Santos, oversensitive much?"

"Just give me a break, okay?"

"Fine. The redhead you fu–" Tank flicked a glance at Lula and Edna, "_approached_ for information in the first village."

"Screw you, Tank." Lester got up and stalked away.

Lula cast a speaking glance at Tank and got up to follow him.

She found him laying flat on the bank watching the house from a spot further around the lake. She sat down beside him and looked out across the lake as well.

"You okay?"

He didn't turn, watching the house instead. "Fine."

"You can stop, you know."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Don't you? You think you're the only one with pride? Maybe you think the rest of us had sellin' ourselves in our five year plan."

"Lula, I'm not a whore."

"Course you ain't. You just use your… talents to get you what you need. So did I honey, but I don't no more. You don't have to neither."

"Thanks, but you're talking to the wrong person."

"Okay, you the boss. Just remember it's your choice. They can't make you do it." She got up and started walking, calling over her shoulder, "And maybe if this one felt different you ought to face up to it."

Lester came back ten minutes later.

"You ready to go?" Tank asked.

He nodded.

Tank stood and checked his gun. "Then we're set. Let's go see if this bitch is in her treehouse today."

* * *

They made their way around the lake in silence and slunk to the bottom of the house and its giant cradle. The base was similar to the tower that had defeated them a week ago. Ridged and uneven, pale in color. Not like anything they had ever seen built.

"I could climb it," whispered Lester as he circled it, "but that overhang's a problem. If we use anything sharp it might shake like the tower did and give us away."

Tank stared at the platform for a couple of minutes before making a decision. "We withdraw. Let's watch it for a day and see if anything changes."

They re-traced their steps to their observation point on the other side of the lake and settled in to wait.

* * *

Morelli had the dusk watch. He sat motionless by the bank as the evening darkened and tiny bats skittered overhead catching insects.

When the light was almost gone he hissed for them to come over. They watched together in silence as the platform closed slowly around the house like a flower, leaving it utterly sealed from the outside world.

"God-damned motherfucking son of a bitch," Tank said as they looked on. "I don't fucking believe it. The whole thing is a giant goddamn plant."

Lester shrugged his shoulders. "I guess that rules out a night attack then."

"Ya think?" Morelli muttered.

They watched in silence for another minute. Nothing changed on the other side of the water.

"Maintain the watch," Tank decided. "We'll see if it opens again at dawn."

* * *

Lula opened her eyes knowing that something had changed. She shivered as the pre-dawn chill found its way into her nest of blankets, cold without Tank there to warm them with her, and lay in the dark listening.

She could hear movement outside, the occasional rustle. No voices. She reached out for her gun where it was tucked underneath her blankets and crawled to the entrance of the tent.

She relaxed when she looked outside the tent. Tank, Lester and Morelli were moving around purposefully, not saying anything. Tank looked up and saw her, and put a finger to his lips before pointing to the lake.

Lula wondered what the deal with the quiet was. It was obvious what he wanted, but it looked like the explanation would have to wait. She nodded and kept quiet.

A loud splash on the far side of the lake explained it neatly for her when she looked for the source and saw nothing. Sound carried over the water. In the pre-dawn stillness, any sound at all would be heard far away.

They crouched down and watched the structure as dawn broke over the water. The slate grey of the sky slowly lightened and became suffused with pink. Hidden birds found their voices and caroled their greetings to each other.

Lula met Tank's eyes and smiled. She was actually starting to get used to them. Maybe she'd let them live. For now anyway.

The other tent opened and Edna's head appeared in a straggle of gray curls. Lula caught her eye and put her finger to her lips, just as Tank had done.

Edna nodded and crawled out of the tent to join her. They turned to join the men watching the closed flower hiding the house on the other side of the water.

As the weak sun washed over the tightly furled green case it gradually opened, as if to accept the rays. A soft rustling sound crossed the water as a rounded roof appeared at the top, followed by a window and a doorway, until once again a little domed house sat on a green platform by the water.

"Looks like that's that," Morelli whispered.

Tank nodded without taking his eyes off it as he chewed his lower lip. His rock-like façade was fading day by day. Although calmer than most of the men Lula had known in her life, by Tank standards he was edgy, positively nervous. She had a feeling that the pressure of command was starting to tell on him. He needed to go home. She fought the urge to walk over and pull him into a hug, crush him against her breasts for comfort. He wouldn't appreciate it, not in front of the others.

"Let's go see if this bitch is in her treehouse," he said finally.

Once again they made their way around the side of the lake, clothes soaking as they brushed past bushes laden with dew that sparkled in the morning sun. A handful of ducks on the lake stopped grubbing under the water and bobbed on the surface to watch them as they went past.

When they arrived at the platform it was still open, the little house on top sitting in the center like the middle of a flower.

They prowled underneath it looking again for a way to get up unnoticed. It was exactly the same as the day before. The stem rose up in the air for around twenty feet before opening; well out of reach.

Suddenly the plant shivered and moved. They retreated, guns in hand, and watched as the platform dipped gracefully down towards the ground, keeping the house on the top level.

Tank waved Morelli back to guard the rear and signaled Lester forward to follow him. As soon as the platform was low enough he leapt onto it and raced into the house, Lester hard on his heels.

Lula turned to look at Edna, shrugged and followed them.

They found Tank inside the one-roomed dwelling with a hand around the neck of a tall, steel-haired woman in a long gray dress, pressing her against the wall. His other hand held the barrel of his gun up underneath her chin.

The woman glared at him with chilly blue eyes. "Do you dare?"

"Don't tempt me," he growled. "We have business to discuss."

"And you thought that the only way to do that was to attack me and bring another witch onto my territory?"

"You Ash?"

"I am."

"Then damn straight it was."

She wasn't cowed. "How sure you are, Mister Giant. Have we even met?"

"Oh I been waiting to meet you." Tank's voice was low and laden with menace. "I seen what you done to people. The kid locked up in a tower for kicks? Well I got news for you. You're gonna fix it all, starting right now with my friends that you turned into puppets."

She smiled, ignoring the steel pressed up under her chin. "So you're here about _them_? Aren't they wonderful? A departure from my usual style, but so interesting."

She looked around and caught sight of Edna standing behind Lester. Her smile disappeared suddenly, and she could have been made of bone, pale and hard, threatening. "Put your toy away, giant. You and your pet witch don't frighten me. You're in _my_ territory."

The light changed as she spoke, darkening, becoming green in color, and thick and heavy, as if the room were suddenly under the sea. Morelli's voice shouted something from outside but the words were muffled, indistinct. Lula looked away from Ash to see what was going on and found Lester and Edna doing the same. Tank just ignored it and held on tightly to Ash.

The doorway and windows that had been open to the morning sun a few moments ago were darkened as something closed around them, the patches of sunlight growing smaller and smaller until they disappeared. The doorway and windows were still there but covered from the outside with something thick and translucent that turned the incoming light a deep, pulsing emerald traced with veins of shadow.

Tank pushed the muzzle of his gun up hard against Ash's chin. "Open it," he snarled. "Now."

Ash just smiled at him, a baring of teeth that didn't reach her eyes. "Why? I don't need to."

She stepped back through a wall that was suddenly warm-toffee soft, flowing through it and disappearing to leave just a crease in the wall behind her. It gradually filled in and smoothed out, leaving Tank with his hand on just a bare wall.

"What the hell?" Tank stared at the wall, perplexed.

"Oh my God." Lula looked around the sealed room. "How do we get out?"

* * *

Morelli had his back pressed to the house guarding the doorway when he heard a rustle somewhere near. He lifted his gun slightly and cautiously scanned the lakeside. A heron stood motionless in the reeds at the water's edge. The ducks were grubbing under the water again. There was nothing unusual that he could see. He lowered the gun.

A sudden shift under his feet threw him to his knees. He lost his grip on the gun and watched in horror as it fell to the floor and slid away from him through the open doorway. The whole platform began to tilt and curl up at the edges, threatening to crush him against the side of the house.

"Guys!" he shouted. "Get out of there, now!" He made a desperate scramble for the edge of the platform as it rose around him and caught hold of it. He dangled precariously there for a moment hoping that the others would make it out and join him.

When no-one came out of the darkened doorway he cursed and pulled himself up and out before the approaching platform pinned him against the house.

He slid down the curved outside of the platform that now resembled a tulip, crashing in a heap at the bottom, where he watched despairingly as it closed the rest of the way to leave the house sealed inside.

"Oh my God." He pushed himself up and staggered to the stem, hammering his fist against it. "Guys? Can you hear me?"

There was no answer from above him, just agonizng silence broken occasionally by a quack and a splash from the direction of the lake.

"Oh Jesus," he muttered. "Now what?"

* * *

A quarter of an hour later nothing had changed, and his desperate shouts had done nothing but make his throat hoarse and painful. He'd gone over their situation a dozen times in his mind, and he couldn't think of anything to get them out. He didn't even know if they could breathe in there.

"Knock it off," he said to himself out loud as he tried to keep his breathing steady and not give in to panic. "The kid in the tower could breathe. They're alive in there. They have to be alive. I just need to get help. There has to be someone that can help."

Something nudged at his back, and his stomach lurched as fresh adrenaline spiked through his system.

He spun around to come face to face with the horse, a white mountain looking at him placidly with dark brown eyes. A broken line told him how she had got there.

"Let me guess, you heard the shouting?"

She just looked at him.

"Well sweetheart, it looks like you're all the help I've got. What do you think we should do?"

She turned away from him and tore up a mouthful of grass.

He snorted to himself. He couldn't believe that he was talking to a horse half-hoping that it might have something to say back. He'd been in this crazy place too long. They all had.

She was saddled though, and the packs were hooked on there. They'd packed up just in case they had to move in a hurry. The oilcloth bundle that Garrick had given them was strapped securely to the back of the saddle.

He unstrapped it and pulled out one of the blades. It glittered with menace in the bright sunshine. "Do you think we could find him if we tried? He said Fellbridge. I don't know where that is."

She whickered and walked over to a large tree trunk that lay along the ground near the water's edge. He could probably climb up from there. If he knew the first thing about riding a horse, that was.

"Oh man," he muttered. "I'm so going to regret this."

He joined her at the tree trunk and unstrapped the packs from her saddle, hanging them from the branch of a convenient tree so that animals wouldn't get to the food and the others could find them if they got out without him. He kept his water bottle, some of the provisions and one of the swords.

With a silent prayer he looked up at the saddle. It was a long way up. If he fell off, it was going to feel even longer coming down. He was going to do it anyway.

He took a deep breath and climbed up onto the log.

"Okay, this is it. I'm in your hands. Don't drop me, will you sweetheart?"

She squealed as if mildly offended and stamped a foot, but she kept her body as still as the log she was standing next to.

"Yeah, you're right. No excuses. We're going to do this. I'm going to get on, and you're not going to tip me off and trample me. Do we have a deal?"

The horse shook her shaggy neck and continued to stand by the log.

He took a big handful of her mane and braced himself.

"Ready. One, two, three, _go_."

On _go_ he launched himself up and forward, but he didn't get enough height; his chest hit the saddle hard, knocking the wind out of him with an _ooff_. He slid back down to stand panting on the log.

"Damn. Okay, higher next time."

He spotted the stirrup dangling in front of him.

"Ah. I guess I needed that, right?"

He stepped forward again and grabbed another handful of hair. This time he hopped around until he could fit his foot into the stirrup and used it to propel himself up. He landed belly down on the saddle looking at the ground the other side.

"Boy," he muttered, "Is it just me or is the air thinner up here?"

With an undignified scramble he dragged a leg over the back of the saddle and sat up.

The world looked different. His head was level with the branches of the trees and the ground was a long way down. Way too far down.

At the end of her long neck, the horse's long ears pricked up in front of him like a guide to where he needed to go.

"Okay. So far so good."

One ear flicked and she started to walk.

"Argh!" He grabbed a double fistful of mane and held on tight as he tried to get used to the motion. It was like nothing he'd ever experienced before. Instead of the back and forth motion that he'd expected, her whole body shifted and tilted from side to side too.

It got easier, though, as he listened to the steady thud of hooves on the ground. She had a gentle rhythm; he just needed to move with her. He forced himself to relax and go with her. Finally he started to feel comfortable, if a little stretched across her broad back.

"Okay sweetheart, I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Let's go find Garrick."

He regretted it instantly as she broke into a rolling canter that threw him forward across her neck. He wrapped his arms around it, held on and prayed as he watched the ground racing past underneath the huge hooves that could crush his skull if he slipped.

Fortunately she didn't seem to want that to happen, though, and shifted underneath him occasionally to stop him falling. As long as he didn't lose his grip, all he had to do was worry about whether the numbness in his groin meant that he was never having children.

He was dimly aware of one, two villages passing by as he clung to her back, enveloped by the smell of sweat and hot horse. Her neck and shoulders were covered in flecks of foam and her breathing was labored as they cantered on. His own fingers were numb where they were twisted in the coarse hairs of her mane so hard that the flesh had turned white. The muscles in his legs and back were screaming with pain.

"Stop," he croaked. "Slow down."

She did, slowing to a walk and letting her head hang low.

Morelli gingerly pushed himself up and untangled his fingers from her mane. "We both need a rest. Just… I don't think I could get back on again, so we'll just rest together, okay."

She flicked an ear at him and plodded on, nose almost brushing the ground.

When they reached a shallow stream she stopped and drank for what felt like forever. He looked longingly at the water rippling over the stones but opted to drink the water from his bottle instead. He grimaced at the brackish taste then chided himself; at least he had a drink. He needed to get help to the others before they started dying of thirst in their prison.

She turned away from the water and started tearing up grass ravenously. He perched precariously on her back and gripped the front of the saddle, wishing that she would bring her head up again but knowing that she had to eat. No point in riding for Garrick if his horse collapsed under him, particularly since she was the one choosing the directions. He had no idea where he was after the first ten miles.

Finally she lifted her head and started walking again. The sweat was drying her coat into hard ripples and she stumbled occasionally but at least she wasn't outright blowing any more.

After five minutes she broke into a trot that threatened to shake his teeth out of his head as he bounced around uncomfortably. The pains in his ass reached a whole new level and he wondered why anyone would want to do this for fun. He gritted his teeth and hung on.

Another few minutes and the canter that he had dreaded arrived. Once more he was hanging around her neck and hoping for the best. He lost track of time as they rode on and on, crossing wide grasslands that whispered around her legs, splashing across rivers that soaked them both to the skin.

Just as dusk was falling they arrived at a small settlement on the grasslands surrounded by a tall wooden palisade. The gates were open and the horse stumbled through the gates at an unsteady trot to stop in the yard.

Exhaustion finally claimed Morelli and he slid helplessly down over her shoulder to lay flat on the ground looking up at the sky. The horse just stood next to him with her head drooping to the ground. He heard men talking around him but couldn't make out the words as he lay there in a dull haze of pain and weariness.

A face appeared in the sky above him surrounded by a thick fall of blonde hair and he wanted to cry with relief as Belle gave him a dazzling smile and said, "Joe! You came after us."

"Hello Belle," he said dazedly. "Well what do you know, we found you. Can you help me up? I don't think my legs are working."

He closed his eyes and yelled with pain as an agonizing pain twisted through his left thigh.

Belle's face disappeared but he heard her voice as she shouted, "_Garrick!" _


	23. Chapter 23

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing._

_I missed out a thank you a few chapters back. Deb, thanks for the medical and horse advice._

Shadow Puppets

Chapter 23

"So Edna," Lula asked from where she was sat in the circle of Tank's arms against the wall of the tiny house, "how long have you been a witch?"

Edna shrugged from the bed. "Beats the hell out of me. Nobody ever told me I was supposed to be a witch."

"Well nothin' else has done any good so far. You reckon you could get us out of here?"

"I'm not done yet," Lester said as he carried on scraping at their translucent prison with the point of his knife. A thin trickle of green ichor pooled underneath the shallow abrasion that he'd created.

"Yeah? Well you ain't got nowhere so far, and when the water runs out I ain't drinkin' my own pee for nobody. What do you say, Edna?"

"I can try. Do you think I need a magic wand?"

"Hell if I know. Can't you just, I don't know, concentrate?"

Edna closed her eyes and screwed her face up. A few seconds later she opened her eyes again. "Anything?"

"Nope. Did you feel anything?"

"Not a thing. I guess I could try dancing naked like that girl in Wisconsin said they do."

Lester shuddered and renewed his attack on the wall. "Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse. Tank, you ready to take over again in a while? We _really_ need to get out of here."

"Sure thing. We better hope that Morelli got clear though. He's our best chance of getting out of here."

"Any way of getting out of here that keeps Edna's clothes on works for me," Lester muttered.

* * *

Morelli woke slowly in a warm space filled with the smell of hay and horses. He could hear rustling sounds around him and the occasional clank, quiet voices somewhere further away. When he opened his eyes he was looking into Garrick's hawk-like face. The older man was sat on a bale of hay watching him.

He looked around to see a wooden half-wall on either side of him. A black horse was watching him with interest from over the nearest one.

Garrick pushed a metal cup into his hands. "Drink this."

He obeyed, gagging at the sweet-salt taste of it. When he had drained the cup he handed it back, grimacing. "Thanks, I think."

"So where are the others?"

"In trouble."

Garrick raised his eyebrows. "Oh?"

"We found Ash. She kicked our asses and trapped the others. I need your help. That's about it." He looked around again. "Where exactly are we?"

Garrick waved absently at the neighboring stall, where a familiar shaggy grey head was eating hay out of a hay-rack. "I remember the last time she wanted to find you. It seemed wise to keep you close by." He leaned forward with a predatory look on his face. "Now, tell me. Where is she?"

"Ash?"

Garrick nodded.

"Right now, I don't know. I'm guessing she left when she trapped the others, but we found her in a house by a big lake."

"Long? With a narrow end that goes round like a hook?"

"That's it."

Garrick rasped a thumb and forefinger over the graying stubble on his chin. "I know it. We can get there in a day."

"We need to hurry. I don't know if they have water in there."

"We can't do anything until tomorrow now. You've slept most of the morning, and you're in no fit shape to ride anywhere today." Garrick nodded his head at the horse. "Neither's she. Get some rest. We'll ride out in the morning."

"You can help? Just like that?"

"Oh yes." Garrick's smile was darkly gleeful. "The chief has no love for Ash either. You'll be in good company in the morning."

* * *

The next day, the barn was bedlam when Morelli rose stiffly from his blanket-and-hay bed. Tack jingled and men shouted as they saddled horses and brought them clattering out into the yard.

The yard was filled with hard-faced young men covered with blue tattoos that wound around bare, hard muscled arms and shoulders in intricate patterns. The village girls, including Belle, were clustered together at the edge watching them. Belle caught sight of him and smiled and waved as the other girls whispered and giggled.

Garrick stood in the middle giving orders as the men checked their horses over and prepared to leave. He grinned when he saw Morelli lead his horse out of the barn to join them.

"Welcome to the warband."

"This is amazing. How many men are you bringing?"

"Half of them, six. The rest will stay behind to watch the village." He stopped suddenly and glowered at someone across the yard. "Berin," he roared. "Haven't you got anything to be doing?"

Morelli followed his gaze and bit back a grin as a tall young man broke away from the crowd of giggling girls and returned to his horse.

Garrick scowled at him before turning back to Morelli. "Do you want a different horse? She'll still be tired."

Morelli thought about the way she'd found the village for him, and the way she'd let him hang around her neck for most of the journey. If she thought that they were a team, who was he to disagree? "No. We'll be fine."

"As you wish. We won't push the pace too hard anyway. We might be out a long time looking." Garrick swung up onto his bay horse and shouted across the yard, "All right. Let's go!"

The warband followed suit, all sitting their horses as easily as they stood on the ground.

"Damn it," Morelli muttered as he looked around, the only man still on the ground.

"There's a mounting block around the corner by the trough," Garrick murmured without looking at him. "Just walk her round. No-one will say anything."

Morelli nodded and led the horse round. He would have liked to think that he managed not to draw attention to himself but the truth was, she was the largest horse in the yard and hooves that size didn't go anywhere quietly. His ego was starting to sting to match his aching legs and back.

He ignored it, and when he was able to walk stiff-legged up the steps of the block and lever himself into the saddle out of sight, he silently blessed Garrick.

He planted his feet in the stirrups and took up a loose hold on the reins, hoping that was the way it was done.

"Okay sweetheart, let's try not to look too stupid in front of everybody, okay? Um, giddy up?"

She sighed gustily and walked out to join the other horses. They clattered out of the village in a loose column and went out onto the grasslands.

The beginning was agony, and Morelli suspected that it was bad for both of them. She seemed to be moving a lot more stiffly than she had on their original wild ride. He practiced sitting up straight and moving with her the way the riders in front of him did until both of their muscles loosened.

Just as it was getting easier, the column picked up the pace into the trot that had rattled his bones yesterday. He did his best but the jouncing started again, and he could feel the tension in the horse's back as she braced against the constant impacts.

The tall youth, Berin, was just ahead of him on a broad roan. Morelli noticed him glancing back occasionally and gritted his teeth with embarrassment.

After a few minutes the roan dropped back so that Berin was riding next to him. "Stand up in your stirrups a little every second beat," he said. "It'll help your horse until you get comfortable. Look, like this." He posted for a few strides, and Morelli copied him. It was a revelation. Suddenly he was in control of his body again and he felt the horse relax as he started working with her.

"Thank you."

Berin grinned. "No problem. You're Morelli, right?"

"I am."

"The man that kissed Belle and lived."

Morelli would have laughed if he wasn't concentrating so hard on posting.

"When we stop you have to tell me how to get past Garrick," Berin continued. "He watches me like a fox in a henhouse."

"No shit," Morelli snorted. "You telling me he shouldn't?"

Berin laughed. "He should. I'll leave you to practice." He pushed his horse forward again to take up his place in the column.

A few minutes later they picked up the pace to a rolling canter, sweeping through the grasslands at a ground eating pace. Morelli found that it was actually getting easier. He grabbed a double handful of mane to brace himself and started to enjoy himself. The sensation of speed beat his Ducati hands down. The pounding of hooves and the shared movement had a rush all its own.

* * *

They stopped to eat and rest the horses when they reached the end of the grasslands and the forest stretched out dark and grim in front of them.

Morelli chewed at a strip of dried meat and listened to the cheerful banter as they talked about the girls back at the village - who had been watching whom, what they were going to do when they found Ash - the hard faces and silence gone along with their breathless audience.

"So Berin," a blonde man with a distinctive pattern of spiral tattoos said around his mouthful of bread, "I saw Mara eyeing you up in the yard. Something going on that I don't know about?"

Berin winced. "Are you joking? She'd eat me alive. She caught Gareth in the barn last week and he had to plead a running case of the pox to get away."

"Which was a lie, by the way," a younger man with close cropped brown hair cut in. "Just in case you were wondering. If Vanna thinks I've got the pox that'll be my chances with her dead in the water."

"Don't worry my friend," Berin said with a broad grin that would have looked more honest on a crocodile, "you can trust me. Of course, Dewar you might have to bribe. Didn't you have your eye on some new tack the next time we went up to High Peak, Dew?" he said to a stocky man with a dark complexion.

"Anything to make that nag of his look less like a girl's horse," a lean man with black hair said, straight-faced. "Did you find anyone that would sell you a bridle with spikes on it, Dew?"

They all sniggered, and Dewar looked embarrassed. "You lot can just shut up. It was just an idea, all right? I never said I was going to get any."

"You haven't got any in years the way I hear it," a brawny red-headed warrior added, and they all howled except for the unfortunate Dewar.

Garrick snorted and shook his head at Morelli. "My men. The pride of the village. Be afraid. I am sometimes."

"You know you love us really, boss," the red-head replied cheerfully.

"Savin, if I was your father I'd have hacked my balls off with a rusty knife in case I had any more like you."

"Didn't you know, boss?" the blonde said innocently. "His mam said she ate too many pickles while she was carrying him. Reckons he was born with his brain already pickled. She ate porridge for the whole nine months next time just in case."

Morelli and Garrick joined Savin laughing along with the rest of them.

Morelli had just taken a swig of water when they expanded the conversation to include him.

"Hey, Morelli," Savin said, "Why such a big horse? Are you trying to compensate for something?"

Morelli choked and sprayed water all over his legs, to general amusement.

"I've never had any complaints," he said when he was able.

"What are the women like where you come from?" Gareth asked.

Morelli thought about the Jersey women that had been closest to him in his life. Stephanie. His mother and Grandma Bella. Terry. Morelli women in general. More recently, Lula. "Frightening," he said firmly. "They don't take crap from anyone. None of them back off a fight. Some of them carry weapons."

He wasn't expecting the hushed silence that followed the last sentence.

"Warrior women," Savin said in awed tones.

"Kind of, I guess. Some of them."

"I'd like to meet a real warrior woman," Dewar said. The rest of the men nodded slowly.

An image of Lula going after Tank like a naked avenging angel sprang into Morelli's mind. "Get my friends out and you will."

Garrick got up and dusted himself off. "All right, up you lot. We have a job to do."

They all got up and went back to their horses, resettling knives and swords around them as they walked.

Garrick joined Morelli as he contemplated the shaggy side-of-a-mountain that was his horse. "She's a good size, I'll give you that." He laced his fingers together into a cup next to the stirrup. "Put your foot here and spring on my count of three."

He boosted Morelli up the horse's side and into the saddle. Morelli gathered up his reins and tried to look like he belonged there as he followed the warband into the forest.

* * *

They had just splashed across a shallow stream when the problem started. His horse started to lag behind the others and her gait became increasingly uneven. By the time they had done another mile it was obvious that she was limping and in pain. Berin was the nearest rider to him in the column.

"Berin," he called. "Problem."

Berin dropped back to ride next to him and watched her move for a few moments.

"Hang on," he said, and cantered to the head of the column. Morelli watched him talk to Garrick before Garrick raised a hand and brought the column to a halt.

He slid off the horse and waited with her as Garrick and Berin rode back to him and dismounted.

"Hold her head," Garrick said as he moved to one of her hind legs and lifted the hoof off the ground to look at the bottom. He touched something there and Morelli felt her flinch slightly.

"She's sore," he said as he ran a hand down her neck and scratched along her mane. "Shh, sweetheart."

She lowered her head and leaned it against his chest, where he rubbed around her ears soothingly.

Garrick put the hoof back down and patted her broad, shaggy rump. "Stone bruise. She'll be all right in a few days but she won't be able to ride out with us now. You're going to have to walk."

Morelli shook his head. "Not an option. We don't have time to walk there; they'll run out of water long before we get there. _Damn_." He let go of the horse and kicked savagely at a stone on the ground.

"Calm down. I said _you'll_ have to walk. I know where the lake is. We'll go on ahead without you. We'll free your friends and wait for you there."

Morelli took a deep breath. "Okay, fine. We'll do that."

Garrick nodded sharply. "Good. But there's one thing you will do once we're gone."

Morelli looked at him questioningly.

Garrick pulled the sword from where it was tucked in at the back of the saddle and handed it to him, hilt first. "You wear this. All the time. Practice with it, even on your own. Not being armed on your own in the forest is idiocy, and I expect better from the men in my command."

Morelli thought about pointing out that he wasn't actually one of Garrick's men and decided against it. He didn't stand to gain anything from angering the older man. He nodded. "Okay."

Garrick nodded again and swung up onto his own horse. "We'll see you soon." He cantered to the head of the line and waved for them to move out behind him again.

Berin smiled at him reassuringly before following them. "Don't worry, we'll get your friends out. I want to meet this woman, for one thing." He pushed his horse into a canter and re-joined the column as they rode out, leaving Morelli alone with his injured horse in the forest.

An unseen bird sang sweetly above his head, audible in the silence now that his companions were gone. Except for the horse he was absolutely alone.

"Well, I guess it's just us again, sweetheart." He walked over to a large log covered with thick green moss, sat down and looked at the sword he still had in his hand. "You know, I've got no idea what to do with this thing."

The horse limped over to him and tried to investigate the contents of his pockets.

"It's like this whole place wants me to be its Prince Charming," he went on.

She chewed his collar experimentally.

"And then there's you. You're not a normal horse, are you?"

She tugged at the laces tying the neck of his shirt.

"I'm not supposed to kiss you and turn you back into a princess, am I?"

She squealed and rolled her eyes at him.

"Sorry, just checking."

She blew a warm, grass-scented breath through his hair.

He reached up without looking and stroked her soft muzzle. "Yeah, I love you too."

* * *

They walked slowly through the forest together, the horse limping, Morelli watching the path to make sure that they were still following the others and kicking stones and branches out of her way.

Around them the forest was bursting with life. Squirrels leapt from branch to branch above them making the treetops sway and rustle. Birds scolded them from the security of the treetops, or rose up from the ground in a clatter of wings as they approached. Once they disturbed a deer hiding in a thicket. It bounded away gracefully, not looking back.

It was mid-afternoon when he spotted a flash to the right of the narrow path. A fallen tree had left a gap in the tree cover that let the bright sun through, and something had reflected the sun straight at him in a glint that was there and gone again. He stopped and watched the thicket of bushes, holding his sword and wishing he still had a gun.

He could just about see a figure in there, crouched above the ground. As he watched, it moved fractionally. He could see blonde hair that didn't blend in with the thicket as well as the clothes that they were wearing.

He held the sword out in front of him in a two-handed grip and stalked over. "I know you're there. Come out."

The figure didn't move, so he used the tip of the sword to part the branches in front of him.

A girl's voice screamed, and the crouched figure jumped out at him brandishing a large kitchen knife.

Morelli goggled. It was a boy, and he couldn't have been more than ten years old. Tears coursed down the boy's cheeks as he waved the knife in large, unsteady circles in front of him, shouting, "Don't you dare. I'll kill you, I swear I will."

"Whoa, kid, slow down." Morelli backed away slowly, sword raised in front of him in case the child was serious. "I won't hurt you. I'm just passing through."

The boy advanced, the point of his knife shaking. "I don't believe you."

"Put it down, kid. You're going to get hurt."

The boy shook under his gaze and held on tightly to his weapon.

"Damn it." Morelli switched his sword to one hand and stepped forward. When the boy lunged he ducked around the blade and grabbed the boy's wrist, twisting it until he dropped the blade.

"No!" The child thrashed and twisted in his grip, trying to get to his hand to bite or scratch.

"God damn it, kid, calm down," Morelli said in exasperation. "I can't let go of you until you stop doing this."

The boy didn't answer, continuing to thrash and fight even as he ran out of steam. His movements got weaker and weaker until he stood still and drooping in Morelli's grip. His silent crying turned to loud, racking sobs; the tears carved runnels in the dirt on his face before dripping to the leaves.

"That's better," Morelli said softly. "Now I'm going to get rid of this knife and my sword and we're going to talk. No weapons, just you and me, understand?"

The boy nodded, looking at the ground.

"Okay." Morelli kicked the knife away and threw the sword to join it, then let the boy go. He didn't move. "So what's going on, kid? Who are you with?"

"Nobody."

"So where are your mom and dad?"

"Dead," he whispered. "The witch killed them."

Morelli winced. "Oh damn, I'm sorry. Who's taking care of you?"

"Nobody." The boy raised his chin defiantly. "I don't need anybody."

"And what about her?" Morelli jerked his head towards the thicket.

"Who?"

"Don't give me that. I heard a girl scream. Who is it?"

The boy looked at the ground again. "My sister."

Morelli nodded. "Stay there."

He pushed into the thicket and saw another child hiding in the fallen leaves, a little girl about five years old. Her white-blonde hair was a tangle of twigs and dried leaves and she was shaking in terror.

"Come on, little one, out you come." He lifted her up and carried her out to join her brother on the path. They clutched each other as soon as they were together.

"Right, first thing: food." He pulled a handful of dried beef out of his pack and handed some to each to them. They took it from him reluctantly, but as soon as it was in their hands they tore into it as though they hadn't eaten in days. They probably hadn't.

"Now, what are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Hiding in case the witch comes back for us," the boy said as he chewed.

"Why would she do that?"

"She said she wanted us. Dad tried to stop her while Mam hid us in the woods, then she went to help him. They never came back for us. I looked and I found them..." The boy broke to look at his sister and didn't continue.

Morelli nodded his understanding. Poor kid, to have to protect his baby sister and carry that burden all on his own. "Haven't you got any other family? Or friends you can go to?"

The boy shook his head. "Nobody else lives near us."

"What are your names?"

They both shrank back a little. "Mam said never to tell people your real name because they can hurt you with it," the boy said.

"Okay, well I'm Joe. And that's my real name, so I'm trusting you not to hurt me with it. See, now we all get to trust each other and maybe we can be friends. How 'bout I call you Buddy and she can be Twinkle. Will that work?"

The boy nodded while his sister stared at Joe with solemn green eyes.

"Good. Now, I have to go find some friends of mine that are in trouble, and I don't think you two should stay in the woods on your own. Do you think you could walk with me while we think of a safe place for you?"

They both nodded and followed him.

* * *

The children were struggling. The boy was limping badly, and the girl was trailing and tired, a wilting flower. Morelli called a halt.

"Okay you two, foot inspection. Sit on this log and show me your feet."

They obeyed, holding out their feet for him to look at. It wasn't good news. Their shoes were worn and they were both sporting a set of angry blisters. One of the boy's had broken and was trickling blood. It was obvious that they wouldn't be able to walk until he caught up the warband.

"Okay kids, new plan. Have you ever sat on a horse before?"

The boy nodded. "Once."

"So here's what we're going to do. Buddy, we're going to see if she'll let you sit on her back. She's got sore feet too, but you're real light, and I'm hoping it will be okay. If she's happy with you up there, we'll see if your sister can get on too. You think you can do that?"

"I'll try," the boy said.

Morelli faced the horse. "Okay sweetheart, I need your help. You think you can carry them? They're only little, and they could really use a ride. For me?"

She dropped her head down to his chest and offered her ears to be rubbed again.

"Thanks sweetheart. Okay Buddy, you're on. Let's go." He swung the boy up above his head and dumped him in the saddle. He perched up there like a bird on a mountain, but he looked safe enough up there.

"Now you, Twinkle. Come here." He picked her up and started to swing, but instead of landing in the saddle the way that her brother had, she screamed and tried to hang on to his neck, fouling the swing. He let her back down and she clung on to him as she buried her face in his shoulder.

It was a strange experience for a man with no children, but a pleasant one. He had no idea what to do next so he opted to just keep his arms around her and let her hang on for as long as she needed.

"Twinkle?" he said after a little while. "Are you scared?"

The way she was burrowed into his neck, he felt the nod rather than saw it.

"Of the horse?"

Another nod.

"How about I be the horse for a little while? Do you think you could sit on my back?"

Two nods this time. Evidently she liked that idea.

"Okay, here we go."

He hoisted her up onto his back and supported her weight on his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight.

"We call this a piggyback ride where I come from." He hoisted his new passenger up a little and started walking again.

The warband had left a clear trail of hoofprints and trampled vegetation through the woods and it was easy to follow them. Even so, he nearly missed it when the little girl decided that maybe she could talk to him.

"What's her name?" she whispered in his ear.

"What's that, Twinkle? You mean the horse?"

"Yes." It was almost more of a breath against his neck than a word, but as her first step towards confidence it was precious.

"I don't know it. I just call her sweetheart if I want to talk to her. Do you think maybe I should give her a new name?"

"Yes."

"Sure. Let me think. How about... Champion the Wonder Horse."

If it was possible, he felt her smile. "That's a silly name."

"Yeah, you're right, we need a better one than that. How about Trigger?"

"No."

"Silver?"

"No."

"Mr Ed?"

Even the horse objected to that one. She see-sawed her head and rolled her eyes at him.

He laughed. "Okay sweetheart, I hear you. Not Mr Ed. Well," he said to the little girl again, "she's my friend, and in my Grandma's language that would be _amica_, so how about Amica? Ami for short."

The horse whickered.

"She seems to like it," he observed. "What do you think?"

"I like it too."

"Good. Amica it is. Ami, meet Twinkle and Buddy."

Amica whickered again.

"So that makes us all friends then. Good." He shifted the little girl's weight a little and kept walking.

As the shadows were lengthening and he was thinking about where to stop for the night, she spoke again.

"Greta."

"What's that, Twinkle?"

"My name is Greta. He's Hans."

Morelli smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Greta."

* * *

He stopped for the night next to a wide rock overhang where he could tuck the children up against the wall and put himself on the outside. It would have to do; it was as secure as he could arrange without enough men to arrange a watch. Hopefully Amica would raise the alarm if needed. He cut a large swathe of ferns for them all to sleep on and put the children together in his sleeping bag, preparing for a cold night himself.

Hans went to sleep straight away, exhausted from the day's events, and he thought that Greta had too. He was trying to get comfortable on the cold ground when he heard a tiny sob coming from the sleeping bag.

"Greta?" he whispered.

"I miss my mam," she whimpered.

"Oh God, I'm sorry sweetheart. I wish she could be with you, I really do."

"Will you sleep over here with us?"

"It wouldn't be right, sweetheart. I'm not your dad."

"I miss my dad too."

"Oh Jeez.... all right, stay there. I'll move over."

He moved over to the sleeping bag and curled himself around her on the outside of the sleeping bag so that she was snuggled in between him and her brother. He felt her relax and go to sleep almost immediately.


	24. Chapter 24

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing._

Shadow Puppets 

Chapter 24

The heavy green light in the living house turned prison made Edna look pale and sickly where she lay on the bed with her eyes closed. Lula watched her through slitted eyes and wondered how long it would be before dehydration took its toll. They had made the water they found in a jug last for a day and half, but it was long gone now, and they were all suffering. Nobody was attacking the walls any more; the wall had healed as fast as they could attack it. So had the floor. All they could do was try to conserve what energy they had and hope that Morelli found a way to get to them.

Her tongue felt thick and heavy in her mouth, and a dull pain was throbbing behind her eyes making her nauseous. If she felt this bad, she didn't want to think how Edna was feeling. The old and the weak first, wasn't that how it went when Mother Nature turned into a bitch? According to the Discovery Channel anyway.

"Tank," she whispered, "you know I said I'd rather die than drink my own pee? Well I changed my mind. I don't wanna die of thirst. I reckon we gotta do it."

"Hey," Lester said. He struggled up from the floor and sniffed the air. "Can anyone else smell burning?"

The side of the house began to blacken, and smoke slowly filled the single room of the house.

"Oh shit," Lester yelped. "Wake Tank up, now."

Lula tugged hard at Tank's sleeve. "Tank, wake up. Wake up, baby, please." She broke off coughing as smoke got into her lungs. She saw Lester drag Edna off the bed and down on to the floor where he pulled his tee-shirt over his head and used it to cover her mouth and nose, cursing all the way.

Tank blinked slowly as he came round. "What's going on?"

"Fire."

"Shit."

They huddled on the floor in the middle of the room as flames started to lick up the walls of the house on all sides.

"Oh man," Lula moaned. "I'm sorry I ever complained about drinkin' pee. I don't wanna burn to death either."

* * *

When the morning sunshine sent the birds into their morning paroxysm of sound, Morelli found Hans gone and Greta curled up alone in the sleeping bag. He sat up and looked around for him, finding nothing. Ami was grazing peacefully a few yards away and his sword, pack and saddle were still there; the only thing wrong was the missing boy.

"Hans? Where are you, buddy?"

His call met with silence except for the steady rip and grind of Ami eating her breakfast. She lifted her head up to look at him before returning her attention to the grass.

"Hans?" Louder this time, with the start of fear twisting in his chest.

A bush rustled at the edge of the trees. He spun towards it and caught sight of a knife poking through the leaves. A fraction of a second later it disappeared again.

He skirted a few steps along the edge of the rock wall and went into the trees to come in behind the knife wielder.

"Hey," he said quietly when he reached him.

Hans ignored him and slashed at the offending branches with his kitchen knife again.

"Hans. Stop and talk to me, buddy. What are you doing?"

"Practicing." The boy didn't stop his attack on the bush. Torn leaves littered the ground at his feet and the branches at the center were hacked open to show the soft green fibers inside. "I have to protect us. She can't have my sister."

His face was grim; too grim for a child of ten. He'd seen more than any child should have to. Morelli had seen that face before in his work; he wished he never had to see it on anyone.

"It's okay, Hans. Your sister's okay. You don't have to do this."

"Who else will?"

Morelli opened his mouth to say that he would, but closed it again. He'd be going back to Trenton. But not before Ash was dealt with.

He waited for Hans to thrust the knife forward again and snaked a hand out to rest on his shoulder.

"Hans, you know the friends I'm going to see? We're going after the witch. I promise you she won't get you or your sister, ever. I'll make sure that you're safe. I promise."

The boy held the knife still for a few moments before slowly lowering it.

"That's better. Now come and watch your sister while I get our breakfast ready. I need you to help her ride Ami today."

Greta shrank back and shook her head when Morelli asked her to try riding the horse but gave in eventually. It helped when Ami lowered her head and offered her ears to Greta for a scratch the way she did to Morelli. It helped even more that Ami carried the children as if they were made of china. By the end of the day Greta was sitting up and pointing out all the things she could see from her new perch high up in the sky.

"Since when were you so nice to people?" Morelli whispered to Ami as he walked next to her. "I guess they're different, huh?"

She just swung her head at him and demanded an ear scratch in response.

He gave in and started scratching. "Tart," he said affectionately.

It took them three more days to get back to the lake.

Morelli smiled with relief when he saw the familiar body of water ahead, then stopped dead when he saw the charred ruin where the strange little house had been. The smell of scorched vegetation hung over the lake. The warband was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh dear God." He dropped Ami's reins and sprinted forward to the blackened circle. "Guys?" he shouted as he turned in a slow circle, heart racing. "Guys!"

An answering shout came from the forest, and Berin walked out of the forest grinning. He beckoned Morelli to follow and disappeared back into the trees.

Morelli's knees sagged with relief. He wobbled back to Ami and picked up the reins again, walking in the direction that Berin had come from.

He found a bustling campsite in a clearing a short distance into the trees. The familiar little tents they used every night were pitched in amongst three larger grey ones, and a fire burned in a circle of stones in the middle with a pot hung over it. The warband looked up from a dice game going on by the fire and waved. The horses were picketed away to one side, and Ami let out a deafening whinny of welcome when she saw them.

The sound brought Lula out of one of the tents.

"It's about damn time. We need to be movin' before Tank kills one of these kids for starin' at me all the-" She stopped, staring at Ami's passengers. "Holy crap! Where did they come from?" She stuck her head in the tent. "Tank, Morelli's back, and he's brought more company."

She walked over and engulfed Morelli in a bear hug that left him fighting for air. "Thank you. Your private army got us out just in time. We were about to start drinkin' pee." She let go and waved at the children. "Who are your friends?"

"More victims. I found them in the forest. I couldn't leave them there and I couldn't think of anywhere else to take them."

"Of course you couldn't." She walked over to Ami and stopped a short distance away with her arms folded. "We friends, horse?"

Ami whickered, and Lula walked to the saddle and held her arms out to Greta. "You comin' down, cutie?"

Greta looked to Morelli and he nodded. "She's a friend."

Greta held her arms out and let Lula pull her off and swing her down to the ground.

"You too, champ?" She held out her arms to Hans too. He nodded and let her bring him down.

"Now, I bet you kids are hungry. You wanna eat? We got bird stew. Don't ask what kinda bird. It's just bird." She winked at Morelli. "We'll be with Edna. These two might take her mind off the boys." She nodded her head at the warband where they were rolling dice with Lester, occasionally whooping or groaning at the way the dice fell and handing coins over. Garrick sat nearby sharpening a long knife. "They been stickin' together in case Edna catches them alone."

Morelli grinned. "Now I feel like I'm home. Is there enough stew for me too?"

"Hell yeah. The boys have been tryin' to one-up each other in the huntin' stakes. We got enough unlucky birds to feed an army. Step this way."

* * *

They built up the fire as the sun went down, and gathered around the flames. Greta found Morelli and climbed into his lap, where she promptly went to sleep with her head on his chest. He sat quietly and stared into the fire wondering what to do with her.

Freed from the responsibility of watching his sister, Hans hovered at the edge of the warband watching them compare knives and tell tall stories of battles fought and women won. Morelli could see the handle of the kitchen knife sticking through his belt. He wasn't sure which of the children he was more worried about.

Lester was with the warband, no doubt adding his own stories to the mix. Lula drowsed in Tank's arms in front of the fire while the big man stared at nothing. Edna wasn't there; the old woman retired early, probably to have more energy for ass-pinching in the morning. He was pretty sure that Berin hadn't really known the meaning of a fox in the hen-house until he saw Edna in action.

He nodded to Garrick as the warleader came over and sat next to him. "Thank you. How did you do it?"

"After everything else failed, we set a fire underneath it. It burned better than I thought it would. As it burned we used water to damp the flames down on one side and pulled them out through there. They got some singed hair, a few small burns, nothing worse. Your man Tank was the hardest; it took all of us to get him out. Gareth has been complaining about his back ever since. Oh, and Lula kept muttering about pee as we brought her out. What's pee?"

"Do you really want to know?"

Garrick grimaced. "I think I just worked it out for myself."

"So what happens now?"

"The boys scouted the area while we waited for you. There's no sign of Ash now. We plan to stay out until we find her."

"Any thoughts on where to look?"

"North. Rumor has it that she has other bolt holes that way. There are a few villages that might be able to tell us more."

"I don't know what to do with the children."

"You can try to find them a new home in the villages on the way through, or I'll take them back with me when we're done."

"Your chief will take them in?"

"Probably. Do I understand that they're Ash's victims too?"

Morelli nodded.

"Then I'm certain he will."

Morelli dozed by the fire, finally relaxed after days of fear and worry, Greta slumbering in his arms. Occasionally she twitched and whimpered. When she did, he smoothed the white blonde hair back from her forehead and whispered to her until she calmed again.

Her clothes were tattered from her days of hiding in the woods. He'd have to find her some more from somewhere, her and her brother. Hans drooped on the other side of the fire where he sat with the warband, trying to stay awake and failing. Bathed in the soporific warmth of the flames, Morelli knew how he felt.

When he woke again, Hans was asleep covered by a blanket that someone had thrown over him. Another one was draped over Greta; her fist gripped a handful of it tightly in her sleep.

It looked like Tank and Lula had disappeared into their tent. Lester and the warband had their shirts off and were comparing tattoos. The firelight flickered over battle-hardened bodies, coloring them warm amber decorated with darker patterns.

Each man in the warband had a rope that twisted up his arms and around his shoulders in intricate loops, like a vine that climbed his body toward the light. All different, there were leaves and barbs, twisting spirals, sharp geometric angles. The only similarity was the color; blue. Lester's collection of forces tattoos looked strangely out of place in comparison.

"What do they mean?" Morelli murmured to Garrick as he watched them across the fire.

"Warrior initiation. They choose the design from their family ties, their village and their loyalties, their history; what makes them who they are."

Garrick looked at the blue thorns that wound around his own forearm. "I didn't know that mine would be so prophetic. Either that or Ash thought that it would be poetic to torment us with our own design, who knows?"

He pulled himself up. "Time to put the children to bed." He stalked around the fire, suddenly all authority. "Time for your beds you lot, we move on in the morning. You all know your watches. Tarman, stop showing off, your mother has bigger muscles. Berin, you can put the boy in his bed."

The warband broke up and headed over to their tents, leaving the tall, dark-haired youth on watch. He smiled and nodded to Morelli as he manoeuvred to his feet with Greta still asleep in his arms and walked to his own tent. Berin was a bare outline ahead of him laying Hans down on the sleeping bag. He clapped Morelli on the shoulder as he left, leaving him alone with the children.

He unzipped the sleeping bag and settled the two of them in before rolling up in the remaining blankets and going to sleep behind them.

* * *

"So what happens next?" he asked Garrick as they ate reheated stew for breakfast.

"Depends on what we agree when Tank gets here. Your team don't have horses; it'll be difficult for you to hunt with us. At the same time, we need all the strength we can get. Your weapons would give us an advantage."

"They haven't done us much good so far."

"You thought this would be easy? If destroying her was so easy I would have done it a hundred years ago."

Garrick looked across the campsite with sharp eyes. "I see Tank. Time to talk."

Morelli followed his gaze to where Tank towered over the other men. "I guess it is."

* * *

So we're agreed then?" Garrick asked Tank.

Tank nodded. "No sense in holding you back. Edna's tough but she's not young, and we have two kids in the mix now too."

Garrick looked confused for a moment. "Kids? We don't have any livestock with us. Oh, wait, you mean the children. Yes."

"You ride ahead and leave the markers," Tank went on. "We'll follow on foot."

"Fine. There's a village about two hours ride to the north of here. I'll try to secure you some transport. One of my men will wait for you and tell you where we're going next before riding on."

"Agreed."

Garrick reached out and clasped Tank's hand, then Morelli's. "Then we'll see you again soon."

* * *

The camp was a different place when the warband had packed up and moved on, leaving just a firepit and a few yellowed squares of grass where the tents had been. It felt quiet, abandoned.

The team packed their own tents up and got ready to follow them slowly.

The sound of a shot and a shrill scream dragged Morelli's attention away from loading packs over Ami's saddle and sent him racing towards the sound. He met Tank and Lester doing the same; they met each other's eyes and drew their guns as they ran.

They found Edna facing down Ash over Lula's body, her gun drawn and pointing at Ash's head. Greta cowered at Edna's feet. Hans was struggling in Ash's grip, white with pain where her bony fingers sank into his shoulder. His kitchen knife lay useless on the ground at his feet.

Ash hissed at the men as they joined Edna, a dry, dusty rattle that contorted her pale face into a threatening mask. "Mine."

"No."

Morelli could see Edna lining up to shoot Ash as she spoke and his stomach churned. There was every chance she'd hit the boy.

He hurled himself forward past Edna and slammed into Ash. He heard Hans cry with pain as he was dragged back with her and the three of them fell to the ground.

He aimed a wild punch at the gray-clad figure thrashing around underneath him and winced with pain. She was hard and unyielding, more like wood than flesh.

He swung a hand out again, open-handed this time. When he felt soft flesh under his fingers he grabbed Hans and pulled him away, rolling both of them clear and away behind Tank and Lester. The two men stood in front of them, guns drawn, protecting them.

He got up slowly and picked Hans up off the ground. As he did so Greta flung herself into his arms and clung on. He picked her up with one arm while he held onto Hans with the other.

Ash rose and stalked towards them, seemingly unafraid of the guns pointing at her. Tank and Lester unleashed a volley of shots that knocked her off her feet.

They all stood frozen, waiting to see if she moved again.

She did. The front of her dusty gray dress was shredded but no blood dripped. She should have been dead many times over; instead she stood and stepped forward.

Greta wailed and buried her face into Morelli's shoulder. He tightened his grip on both the children and Ash stopped. A savage grin split her face. "So that's the way of it, is it? Keep them then. I have other choices."

She turned her back on them and walked into the trees, disappearing from view.

"Lester, make sure she's gone," Tank said before dropping to his knees next to Lula. Edna was there ahead of him.

"Oh, Jesus God. Lu? Talk to me."

He put a hand to her hair and pulled it away red. "Shit."

Lula moaned without opening her eyes and muttered, "Can't have them. Go to hell, bitch."

Morelli squatted down beside her with Greta still in his arms. "Is she okay?"

"I think so," Edna answered. "Scalp wounds bleed a lot. Lula? Can you hear me?"

Lula cracked her eyes open. "Where are the kids? Tell me she ain't got the kids."

"They're fine," Morelli said. "Everybody's safe."

"Where's Tank?"

"Right here, baby," the big man answered.

"Getting under my feet," Edna added. "Just like a man."

Lula smiled faintly and winced. "Jeez, what did that bitch do to me? I feel like I got stomped on."

"She just swatted you out of the way like a fly," Edna said. "Knocked you flat."

"She bitchslapped me? To hell with that." Lula extended a hand for Tank to lift her to her feet. "That's the first hit I took since I walked away from Maggot, and it's sure as hell gonna be the last. It's on now."

She swayed slightly and Tank held on to her tightly. "Once the world stops spinnin' anyway. Bitch. God-damn kid stealin' bitch. She's toast. She's dog meat. She's… I don't know, sawdust. I'm gonna kick that bony white ass into next year."

Tank shook his head slowly. "Did I ever tell you how much I love you?"

"Never enough, silent man, never enough." Lula hung onto Tank's arm for support as she turned to address the children. "You okay, baby girl? And you, champ?"

"I tried to fight her but I dropped my knife." Hans looked wretched, and Morelli hugged him close, careful to avoid his bruised shoulder.

Lula frowned. "Honey, you're what? Ten? That's too young for knives anyway. I ain't never seen no good come from kids with knives. You did good."

"You did." Morelli ruffled his pale hair. "We're all proud of you."

"No." Hans shook his head. "You don't understand. It was my fault. I wished. I wished that my mother was here with us, and then that woman walked straight out of the woods like she had been there the whole time." Tears started to trickle down his face. "It was me."

"Hey, hey!" Lula interrupted. "We lookin' for that bitch anyway. You did good, and you're allowed to miss your mom. Don't you be blamin' yourself or I'll have to kick your ass too."

"Actually, he did more than good," Morelli said, trying to sift through the thoughts whirling through his mind. "You're right, Lula. We're looking for her. And the wish brought her here. Maybe Hans just showed us how to find her."

"Then we need to catch up to Garrick," Tank said. "We need all the strength we can get before we face her."


	25. Chapter 25

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing._

Shadow Puppets 

Chapter 25

Stephanie woke knowing that someone else was in the room. She lay in Ranger's big bed listening to the faint sound of breathing and wondered if she was losing her mind.

When she was sure she wasn't wrong, she tensed, ready to turn to Ranger and warn him that they weren't alone. Before she could move, he tightened his arm around her middle and breathed, "Shh," in her ear. So he already knew. She lay there and waited for someone to make a move.

Finally Ranger broke the stillness. "Move," he said, and shoved her towards the edge of the bed as he rolled the other way.

She continued the move and rolled off the side and under the bed. When she got there he was grinning at her from the other side.

He sent his Derringer skating across the floor towards her and disappeared.

She grabbed it and stood, pointing it at the shadow in the corner of the room.

Ranger was already standing at the other side of the bed with a tiny knife in his hand. He switched on the bedside lamp and the old woman from outside the restaurant stepped forward into the light.

"You know," Stephanie said. "I should just pull this trigger right now and be done with it."

"Don't be ridiculous," the witch said. "You aren't going to do anything to me. Do you want to end up half woman half plant? I haven't done that one yet."

"What do you want?" Ranger said.

"Just a social call," she said. "Ask her. She invited me."

Stephanie didn't take her eyes off her as she kept the gun steady. "I have no idea what she's talking about."

"Not buying it," Ranger said to the woman. "Try another."

She smiled. "No? Ask her. She hungers so badly that it calls me. She craves food like poor Bella craved her vengeance. I can taste it like tin in my mouth. How could I ignore an invitation like that?"

"Get out of my head, bitch," Stephanie said. "I'm uninviting you."

The woman shook her head slowly, smiling as though something delighted her. "Oh no. Why would I want to do that? This is wonderful. This is better than I ever dreamed. So many possibilities. The two of you are a work of art. You just need the right setting to be perfect."

"Ranger, I'm just going to shoot her," Stephanie said conversationally. "You have a problem with that?"

"Get in line." Ranger threw the knife at the woman. It embedded itself in her throat with a sickening thunk.

She hissed as she looked down at the blade. "Oh for goodness sake. You two are as bad as the others." She pulled the knife out and the wound closed as she spoke. "But unfortunately for you, you're mine, and I don't put up with that kind of behavior from my creations."

Stephanie screamed with silent fury through a mouth that wouldn't move as her puppet body betrayed her and sagged to the ground like a discarded child's toy.

The witch picked her up and tucked her against a body that smelled of earth and crushed leaves, and walked into a forest that shouldn't have existed in a seventh floor apartment.

* * *

Stephanie sat on the floor of the cage surrounded by cake and candy and glared as the witch opened the cage door and tossed Ranger inside. He landed next to her in a tumble of felt limbs and lay horribly still.

"He'd better be okay," Stephanie said to the witch.

"He will be."

"You are so going to regret this."

"Maybe." The witch's tone was offhand.

"I'm serious."

"Of course you are."

"I will get out of here and I will kick your ass, and then I will personally stuff every crumb of this stupid cottage down your whimsical, wish-granting throat."

"I'll be sure to have one here for you to kick."

"What?"

The witch ignored her and walked out of the cottage, closing the door behind her.

"Bitch," Stephanie said to the door. "I'm getting really sick of old women screwing with my life."

"You don't sound that pissed off," a voice said next to her, and she muttered, "Oh thank God," and threw her arms around Ranger. "Scare me like that again and I'll kick your ass too. My heart would be in my mouth right now if that bitch had left me one."

"Shh," he cautioned. "I'm going to be playing dead for a while. If you hear anything, you think I'm still out. You okay with that?"

"Sure. You know me, a lie for any occasion."

"You're a talented woman. Now tell me, why so happy? You're in here and the cake is out there."

Stephanie smiled. "Because she said back there that we were as bad as the others. _Others_, plural. So there's a chance that Joe, Lula and my Grandma are okay. And if they are," her smile became a little bit feral, "then it's game on."

Ranger smiled back. "Oh yeah."

"And then we find some clothes and deal with the cottage."


	26. Chapter 26

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing._

Shadow Puppets 

Chapter 26

Lula fidgeted constantly as they walked into the village. It was obvious that something was bothering her.

"Edna, did you have to put so much green stuff in my hair?" she asked. "People are lookin'. They're probably wonderin' what the funky smell is."

Morelli looked around. "They always look at us when we go into the villages. Doesn't feel any different to me."

"Yeah? Well I sure as hell feel different. I feel like the Swamp Thing. This shade of green don't suit my skin tone. And another thing–"

"You look beautiful," Tank interrupted.

She beamed. "Thank you, baby."

"Now can you shut up and let me think?"

Morelli winced. Tank was going to pay for that one. He saw Lester wince too out of the corner of his eye.

Lula stopped and put a hand on her hip. "Excuse me? Did I just hear right? Did you just tell me to shut up? Do you wanna know what I think of that?"

Lester took a step closer to Morelli as Lula told Tank exactly what she thought of that and murmured in his ear, "Her head's starting to wag. It's going to be a good one."

Morelli fought back a laugh. "Shh, don't attract her attention."

"Man, no power on earth could make me step into the firing line. Look at Tank's face."

Morelli sneaked a look. "Yep. He knows. Last time I saw a face like that my dad had insulted my grandma's cooking."

"Yeah, I remember your grandma. I can believe that one."

They stopped when they realized that Lula's tirade had stopped too. Lula was glaring at them.

"You two got somethin' to say?"

"Nope. Not me," Lester said cheerfully. "Talking about Morelli's grandma. What's up, Lula?"

Tank's face said that he wasn't fooled for a second, and that Lester would be hearing about this later.

A shout from across the square prevented them from finding out if Lula bought it. Berin ran across to meet them.

"Finally. I have a cart waiting for you, and we think we know where she is. They're going to wait until we get there before moving in."

"We might not need to find her," Morelli said. "We might have another way."

"Tell Garrick when we catch him up. Right now, come with me. We can get there tonight if we move fast."

* * *

Lula staggered down from the cart at the side of the track and groaned. "Damn, that was nasty. My ass is killing me. How do you people sit in those things for so long?"

Berin shrugged. "Mostly we ride. The carts are for other things."

Lester swung down on stiff legs and stretched before lifting the children out. "Look at it this way, it beat walking. Just about."

"I have the ointment if it's really bad," Edna said as she waited to be lifted out as well. "Does anybody need any help?"

"Nope, not me," Lester answered hurriedly. "I'm fine."

Edna winked at Morelli over Lester's shoulder as he lifted her down and Morelli bit back a smile as he dismounted from Ami and joined them on the ground.

Tank got down from the front bench of the cart and looked around. "I don't see the warband. Where are they?"

Berin pointed up a shallow rise to where a pine forest loomed above them, dark and dense. "This is as far as we can take the cart. We'll take the horses and leave the cart here. The place that we're heading for is about three miles into the forest. Follow me."

They left the sunshine behind and followed Berin into the shadow of the trees.

They walked into a quiet camp. A few of the men looked up and waved from around the fire but there were no dice games and no laughter. Even the horses were quiet. The sense of fear was palpable.

Garrick raised a hand and walked over to meet them.

"Why so quiet?" Morelli asked as he dismounted.

"You'll see in the morning. There's not enough time before dark to show you tonight." Garrick looked around for Edna. "Mrs Mazur, do you still have your medicine? I have an injured man, his horse too."

Edna nodded. "I do."

"Then follow me. The rest of you might want to see this too. Leave the children and the horses with Berin."

He led them to where Gareth was huddled in a woolen blanket by the fire. "Show them," he said.

Gareth lifted the end of the blanket and extended his legs.

Lula sucked in a breath and Lester muttered, "Jesus," under his breath.

Yellowish fluid oozed from deep scratches that grooved around both his legs from the knee to the hip. The skin around them was reddened and puffy and he sat very still, in obvious pain.

"They got my horse too," he said. "Can you help him?"

"Edna?" Morelli asked.

She nodded. "It should work. I'll see to him after you."

"No." The boy shook his head. "I can wait. He's really hurt."

Morelli put his hand out. "Give me some of the stuff, Edna. I'll see to the horse."

Edna passed him a plastic bag.

"Show me the horse," he said to Garrick. "Edna can deal with Gareth."

Garrick nodded and took him over to the pickets where the horses were.

Ami whickered a greeting. The black horse next to her didn't. It stood unmoving with its head lowered, shivering.

"Oh my God," Morelli said.

Garrick nodded, his face grim. "You see why we were waiting for you."

The horse's injuries were far worse than the rider's. Its legs were lacerated and bloody. Spatters of blood pocked the dirt where it stood.

"What the hell did this?"

"Plants. I'll show you tomorrow. Now, I'll hold his head if you can put that on. Can you do it or shall I call one of the boys?"

Garrick took a firm hold of the horse's reins and lifted one of his forelegs up by the hoof, holding it off the ground. "You should be safe to do it now."

"Why?"

"He can't kick you without losing his balance. You don't want a kick to the head while you're treating him."

"Would he try?"

"He's hurting. Now get that stuff on him while we have enough light to see him."

Morelli got to work.

* * *

"You think you're really something, don't you," Stephanie said as she watched the witch puttering around the gingerbread cottage lighting the lamps.

The witch put a kettle on a stove that looked more like cast iron than the cake and candy that the rest of the furniture was made of. Everything but the cage, that was.

"You're so impressed with yourself that you don't even care that Ranger hasn't woken up since you took us at the apartment," Stephanie went on.

"It would be a shame to break up the set, but not the end of the world. After all," the witch waved a hand at the fragrant sponge of the walls, "this was all about the inside of your mind, not his."

"You need to stay outside of my head, bitch."

The witch sat on a chair that looked suspiciously like chocolate with a sponge cake seat and put a cup on the small table. "Biscuits. Now what did I make with biscuits?" She looked up. "Ah yes, roof tiles."

She went outside and returned with two cookies. "Would you like a cup of tea?"

Stephanie glared from the cage. "Very funny."

"Some things are just habit." She found a plate for the cookies and sat back down. "It's rather hard to stay out of your heads. It's so interesting. So many strange things. I couldn't believe all the things I saw in poor Bella's."

"You keep saying that. Why poor Bella?"

"Because everything comes with a price. Poor Bella," she said in a mocking, sing-song tone. "Such pride. Pride in herself. Pride in her feeble power. And most of all, pride in her beautiful grandson. Such a good boy. So handsome, so strong, so dedicated. She wished so hard, I felt it here. She'd do anything to make her beautiful boy happy and hurt his betrayers. What better price to claim for her borrowed vengeance than him? He's ours now."

She smiled happily, and suddenly she would have passed for anyone's warm, cozy grandmother. "I'm rather proud of this one. It might even be my best work yet, do you think? It lacks grandeur, certainly, but it has an… elegance to it. And it's so much fun playing in your world. The things in your minds: talking toys, machines that fly and light with no fire. You come from a very strange place, I can tell you."

Stephanie shook her head. "You're nuts. And you need to get over yourself. Joe is going to be first in line to kick your ass when he gets here. And I'm going to be second."

* * *

The field of desiccated giant thistles stretched out in front of them like a jagged sea of bone in the morning sunlight, each of them as tall as a man.

"They look dead," Morelli said to the field at large.

"They're anything but. Watch." Garrick signaled to Savin, who picked up a branch lying on the ground at the edge of the trees. He threw it a short distance into the thistles.

The branch arced up into the air and fell toward the thistles. As it reached them the skeletal plants erupted into a frenzy of lashing limbs, snatching it out of the air. It disappeared without a trace and the plants stilled.

"The villagers told us about them when we rode in," Garrick said. "They came in to cut wood and found them. They weren't here the week before. Gareth rode his horse too close yesterday and those things grabbed at the poor beast's legs and ripped them to shreds. Gareth came off as it tried to get away and they got him too."

"Dear God."

Garrick nodded. "I'm willing to bet that what we want is in there somewhere."

"Is there any way past them?" Tank asked.

"No. It's the same all the way round."

"Have you tried burning them?"

"Not yet. We wanted to wait for you before we attacked."

"We haven't got anything for this," Tank said, squinting into the thistle-sea. "We weren't expecting killer plants when we outfitted."

"What we need is about a thousand gallons of weedkiller," Lester said.

Tank shrugged. "We'll just have to do it the old-fashioned way. Let's get a fire going."

* * *

They gathered around the fire, the Trenton team and the warband both. Edna and Lula watched with the children from a safe distance.

Garrick lifted a long branch from a heap next to the fire and held it in the flames until it smouldered and caught. He met Tank's eyes and the two of them moved to the nearest thistle. It rattled its branches, dry and threatening. Garrick held the burning branch to the base of the plant. The fire took hold quickly and licked along the dry branches. It twitched and rattled as it burned.

Lester had just exchanged a high five with Morelli when the thistle froze, unmoving. At the same time the flames flickered blue and died.

They watched for a moment, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did. Garrick poked the stem with the branch and it rattled and swished, as alive as ever.

Tank shook his head. "It was never going to be that easy. Let's try something else. Light another one then I'll take over."

Garrick put the burning branch to the next plant and it exploded into life, slashing at the invader with an angry hiss of dust-dry leaves. Garrick fought to keep the branch steady until the flames caught.

The flames raced along the tinder-dry branches, which thrashed before stopping motionless the way the first one had done.

In that moment Tank stepped in with one of the machetes and struck hard at the base. The plant slashed a branch at him, galvanized by his presence, and blood seeped through a jagged rent in his sleeve. He ignored it and struck again. The plant fell to the ground and continued to burn there. The other plants leaned away from the flames as fire consumed the corpse.

Morelli nodded to Lester and took a branch. They moved to the thistle next to the remains of the fallen one. As if it knew what they planned it erupted into a frenzy of motion. They ignored it and Morelli fired the plant the same way that Garrick had done. Lester waited for the burning plant to still before hacking it to the ground. Unlike Tank, he escaped without injury.

Garrick nodded with satisfaction and turned to the warband. "In pairs. One burns, one cuts. Anyone free stays back to help the women guard the children in case she turns up. We go in as a wedge. Stay clear as much as possible."

The warband nodded. They didn't need to be told that last part.

They worked their way in gradually, hacking a wedge into the thistles and gradually opening up a path. Lula and Edna took it in turns to rake the twitching corpses clear, making sure that one person was always free to guard the children. A pile of charred plant debris grew up at the edge of the field and an uneasy rustle spread across the field.

The live thistles on either side of the passage lashed their branches into the gap trying to reach the invaders. Now and then one would have a longer reach than expected; more than one of the men had tears in his clothes and bloody flowers blooming on his skin. The leather that Morelli and the warband wore did better than Tank and Lester's Trenton clothing.

The heat was intense as they penetrated the field. A pall of gray smoke hung over them making them cough and choke.

Morelli felt the sweat trickling down his back underneath his leather jerkin but didn't dare remove it with the thistles straining to reach him. The others looked tired and sweaty too. Lula hung back in the cleared area with the children, trying to keep close enough to the warband for safety but keeping them away from the worst of the smoke.

He was preparing to attack another plant when Edna tapped him on the shoulder. He accepted the cup of water she offered with relief, drinking half of it and pouring the rest over his head. The sudden cool on his face was bliss.

Edna stared towards the point of the wedge where Berin and a short blonde warrior were hacking a thistle to the ground as it grabbed at their faces.

"She's close," Edna said.

"Ash?"

Edna nodded. "I can feel her. We're nearly there. You'd better talk to the others and let them know."

"Thanks. Watch the kids for me?" Morelli wiped the last of the water from his brow and called over to Tank and Garrick. He pointed back to the way they had come. "We need to talk."

Garrick called the warband away and they made their way back to the camp and the clean air of the forest.

* * *

"I think he's dead, you know." Stephanie had no idea if the witch was even listening, but she kept talking anyway. "He hasn't moved, even when I've pushed him."

The witch ignored her and carried on sweeping loose crumbs off the floor that looked like hard toffee.

"Please." Stephanie tried to inject a note of panic into her voice. "Please don't leave me locked in here with a dead body."

The witch didn't even look at her as she swept the crumbs out of the open door and left. The door shut behind her with an air of finality.

"I think she's getting bored with us," Stephanie said to the motionless body laying next to her on the floor of the cage.

"I agree," Ranger answered. "I think we're going to have to change the plan."

"To what?"

"I'm going to try to kill you."

* * *

Morelli sat down on the ground with Garrick and the rest of the team a few yards away from the warband. "Edna says she's close. We're almost through. We need to get ready to face whatever's inside."

The boys looked nervous for a moment before visibly straightening their backs and forcing their features to impassivity.

"Do we know how close we are?" Garrick asked, too quietly for them to hear.

Edna shook her head. "Only that it's not far. I don't know if she can feel me too but she might already know we're here."

"Do you have enough of your weapons for some of my men to use?" Garrick asked Tank.

"Our weapons were no good against her. We tried." Tank's voice was grim, matter-of-fact. "We were able to push her back, no more."

"Then we go in with what we know best." Garrick scrubbed his hand through his hair, nerves finally showing. "We'll do what we have to, but I want these boys to see their families again."

"We have a few things in reserve," Lester said, "but we'll have to use them. They need training to use, or we'll hurt ourselves more than her."

"Then that will have to do," Garrick said with finality. "Let's arm ourselves as best we can and go back. I don't want her to have a chance to think of something new while we talk."

He stood up and called over to the warband where they sat whispering together. "Fetch the rest of your arms. We're ready to break through."

He went to his pack and pulled out a frightening array of knives, hanging them around his body. The boys did the same, until the group bristled with steel.

Tank passed out clips for the guns to his own people then pulled out a small cylinder and showed it to Morelli. "You ever used flash-bangs?"

"No."

Tank threw it to Lester and pulled another out of the pack for himself. "We'll carry them then. Remember to duck and cover if we shout."

Morelli looked at the sword and scabbard in his hand and hung them at his waist next to his gun holster, telling himself that it couldn't hurt.

As he stood up to join the warband Greta flung herself into his arms, almost knocking him over. "Please don't leave me," she whispered. "Don't let her take me."

He wrapped his arms around her. "Shh. I have to go, sweetheart. I have to fight."

She broke into hysterical sobs, wailing into his shoulder.

"Oh please, sweetheart, don't cry," he said, holding her tight. "It'll be okay."

"I'll take her."

Morelli looked up from the crying child. Hans stood there, face set. A new dagger sat next to the kitchen knife in his belt.

"I'll take care of her. We'll be fine. We don't need anybody else."

"Oh Jesus," Morelli muttered. He stood up with Greta still clinging to him and walked over to where Tank and Lester stood with Lula and Edna. "I can't do this. I can't go."

Tank and Lester looked stunned but Edna nodded in understanding. "I know."

"But what about Stephanie?" Lula asked.

"It's the kids. I can't leave them knowing that she wants them, I just can't. It's not that I don't–"

"It's okay," Edna interjected. "I know you, Joseph Morelli. I know you love her. But we love our children more. It's just the way it is."

"I'm not their father."

Greta burrowed a little deeper into his neck.

Edna patted his arm. "Maybe not by blood, but I think in all the ways that count, if you accept the offer."

"Offer?"

"This place wants you. Don't ask me how I know. What do you dream of Joseph? In your heart?"

"I'm just protecting them. They need me."

"Of course they do. It's playing hardball."

"Keep the children here with Gareth," Tank said. "We'll see you afterwards." He strode away to join Garrick and the warband. Lester, Lula and Edna followed him.

"Hey," Morelli whispered to Greta. "Calm down. It's over, I'm not going."

She refused to look up and hung on.

* * *

"Where's Morelli," Garrick asked as Tank joined him.

"Change of plan. He's staying back with Gareth and the children."

Garrick nodded in approval. "Good."

"Good?"

"Do you want to be in that field when she appears behind you? Tell Morelli we'll need him to guard the way out of the field."

"Will do." Lester jogged back to Morelli to deliver the message.

"Let's start walking," Tank said. "I need to tell you what we've got and what you'll need to do if we use them."

The thistles rustled as they approached. The smoke had cleared and a creeper-covered wall was now visible beyond the field.

Garrick drew his sword and gestured towards the remaining plants at the point of the wedge. "Burn them."

Berin and another dark-haired youth stepped forward with burning branches and attacked while the others stood ready for what might be on the other side. The thistles died in the same way as the ones before them, smouldering and thrashing.

Another four and they were through to a narrow strip of bare ground around the wall. They stepped through the narrow passage between the thistles in single file, careful to avoid the swipes from the plants on either side of the passage. Berin was the last one through. He turned back to the last plant as it reached for him and severed the outstretched branch with his sword. It fell to twitch at his feet, where he stamped on it for good measure. When it had stopped moving he turned back to face Garrick's reproving glare with a shrug and no excuses.

Garrick muttered something under his breath and moved on.

They snaked along the wall in single file between the thistles and the wall looking for a way through. Eventually they found it.

"Hold," Garrick shouted from the front.

The column straggled to a halt.

Tank eased past the warband towards the front, stopping once to hack off a branch that slashed at his face. He joined Garrick in regarding the narrow break in the wall.

The rock wall rose high above their heads except for the break immediately in front of them. Creepers clambered up either side. They clung motionless against the wall, but as Tank looked he could see the tips of some of the tendrils twitching like the tails of a hundred angry cats. They were waiting for them to make a move.

"Wonderful," Tank said sourly. "Just wonderful."

Garrick nodded. "At least she's consistent."

"Which is a good thing, why?"

"Because it means all we have to fight is the creepers. The walls probably won't close on us and crush us."

"Probably."

"Do you want to live forever?"

"Good point." Tank hefted the sword in his hand and looked around. "Let's cut these thistles back first. I don't want to be backed right up against them if we have to retreat."

"Agreed."

With practised ease they cut a swathe of thistles back and gave themselves space to the rear. They faced the twitching vines that guarded their destination.

"Ready?" Garrick asked without taking his eyes off them.

"Let's do it," Tank said.

They moved in and started hacking at the vines that snaked out towards them.


	27. Chapter 27

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing._

Shadow Puppets 

Chapter 27

A shadow crossed in front of the hard candy window of the cottage. In the time it took Stephanie to turn her head and register the fact, Ranger had grabbed hold of her neck with both hands and, snarling, pinned her against the side of the cage. She looked at him with wide eyes and struggled.

The witch hissed with fury as she entered the cottage and saw it. "Stop!" she shouted. "Put her down. Now."

Ranger didn't answer, just carried on throttling Stephanie. She put her hands up to try to pull his away and thrashed her legs uselessly against the bars.

"Stop it, right now." The witch crossed the floor to the cage and touched the vines that held the door closed. They uncoiled and the door swung open. The witch leaned forward into the cage and reached for Ranger's neck.

"Now," Stephanie said, and Ranger dropped her and turned. The two of them launched at the witch simultaneously, Stephanie clawing at her eyes and Ranger delivering a kick to her throat that made her gag.

She reeled back and they followed her, attacking her face and throat, not giving her a second to collect herself and take back control. She staggered back across the cottage.

She screeched and froze as her back came into contact with the hot iron of the stove. The sound cracked and dried, fading to leave her mouth open in a silent scream. Her body rustled as a brown wave rose from the neck of her dress and spread across her face.

She furled and crumpled like a fall leaf. And died.

Stephanie and Ranger stepped back.

"Wow," Stephanie said. "That was unexpected."

"Yeah." Ranger sat back and leaned against the bars of the empty cage and closed his eyes. "I think we fucked up."

"Why?"

"Look down. You feel any different?"

Stephanie examined her felt body. It was unchanged. "Oh no. That's not fair."

"Tell me about it."

"Maybe it will take time."

"Let's hope so." Ranger stood and picked the witch up, lifting the husk easily despite its size. "Let's get rid of this thing anyway."

He stopped to look at the open door as he left the cottage and shook his head. "Looks like toffee."

Stephanie sat down on the floor with prickling eyes and scrubbed angrily at the felt of her arm. "Shit."

The creamy fabric loosened and tore under her fingers. She poked at it and peeled a thin piece away. Instead of white stuffing, she saw skin underneath.

"Oh my God." She enlarged the area of skin, tugging at the felt around it and tearing it away in long strips.

"Steph?" Ranger stood in the doorway.

"Look." She waved her arm at him. "It's coming off."

He looked at her arm then picked at his own felt and pulled a large chunk away to reveal his own skin.

Stephanie suddenly felt the material constricting her throat and scrabbled at her neck. "Help me," she said, "I can't breathe."

Ranger looked her over. "That's because you're growing. Hold on."

He went outside again and returned with a sharp stone. "Keep still." He scored the felt along her neck with the sharp end of the stone. It split and fell away.

"And the rest?"

He repeated the procedure along her ribs, then her arms and legs and more felt fell away.

She stretched her arms and legs until her spine popped. "Oh thank God."

"Just one more thing." Ranger grabbed a handful of wool and pulled it away from her head. The whole thing came away at once.

Stephanie put a hand up to her head and felt her own hair underneath. She laughed with delight and peeled the felt off her face.

"A little help here, Babe." Ranger's voice was strained and Stephanie turned to help him strip off his remaining felt as it constricted around his body.

She smiled as she used the stone to slice through the material and free him.

"What's so funny?" he asked, amusement clear in his own voice.

"I bet you never stripped a girl's skin right off with her clothes before."

"Nope, it's a first. You?"

"Me either. I lead a sheltered life. Hold still." She pulled his wool hair away from his head and stripped the felt away from his face. "There you are," she smiled. "How've you been?"

"Missed those eyes."

"The eyes, huh? Funny, that's not what you're looking at right now."

"Yeah, busted. Not just the eyes."

"Really."

"Really. Do I have to explain?"

"I think you should try."

"You know, some things are best demonstrated." He stood up, scanned the inside of the cottage and laughed. "The bed is made of sheet cake. You've got to admit, Babe, she nailed you good."

He picked her up and tossed her onto the broad expanse of white frosting. "But I'm going to do it better."

He followed her down and pinned her to the sheet cake bed. "Now, what was that you said? 'Good to know you've still got something between your legs' wasn't it?"

"Oh come on. I was under stress."

"Not good enough. I think payback is still due for that one."

"How much payback?"

"I'll let you know when you're done. It could take years. Since there's food right here."

"My kind of food. You don't eat this stuff, remember?"

He pinned her with his knees, grabbed one of the hard chairs and smashed it against the wall, showering her with shards of chocolate.

She yelped and closed her eyes.

He took one of the pieces, pushed it between her lips until it started to melt then used it to draw a long sinuous line from her throat to her pelvis.

As he licked the chocolate from her throat he said, "I can make an exception."

* * *

The fight against the vines was going badly. As Tank fought one off, another wrapped itself around his throat and drew him back against the rock face.

Lester spotted it and fought his way towards him, trying to get a knife to the vine choking the life out of Tank as more vines tried to wrap around his own arms and legs. He sliced at them but for every one that he cut there seemed to be two more, a seething mass of strangulation waiting to happen. Tank was turning gray as the vines held him at bay. "Garrick!" he shouted, "help me!"

"I can't get free!" Garrick shouted back.

Lester looked over and it was true. Garrick and his men were struggling. Two were trapped like Tank. No-one could help.

Suddenly, the thrashing of the vines slowed and stopped. Lester seized the moment to slice at the vines holding Tank. He fell to the ground coughing.

"What happened?" Lester asked Garrick.

He shrugged. "I don't know, but I'm glad it did. We were losing."

Lester looked around. Two of the boys were down, but seemed to be alive. The rest were watching for the vines to start moving again. They all looked exhausted.

"Berin, take Dewar and check the thistles," Garrick ordered. "See if they've stopped too."

Berin nodded and the two youths walked to the nearest thistle. Berin poked it with his blade. It didn't respond. He whirled and cut it through at the base and it fell like any normal plant.

The boys turned back and shrugged.

"All right, we move forward," Garrick said. "Slowly."

They settled Tank and the other two fallen members of the warband out of reach of the vines in case they attacked again and moved warily through the gap.

The forest on the other side of the wall was picture postcard-pretty. Large ash trees rose gracefully above a clear, dry forest floor. Rhododendrons provided an occasional burst of brilliant color. Streamlets criss-crossed the broad expanse of forest floor.

It seemed normal. Nonetheless they moved forward carefully.

"Boss." Berin gestured to the right where a gap in the forest canopy let light through into a bright clearing.

In the center of the clearing a white picket fence ringed a swathe of green lawn, which in turn surrounded the strangest house that Lester had ever seen.

"What in the name of the gods is _that_?" Garrick said.

"I, ah, think it's a gingerbread house," Lester answered.

"A what?"

"A house made of cake. And candy, and cookies by the looks of the roof."

Garrick stared at him. "You've seen one of these before?"

"Well not for real. It's a storybook thing."

"More of your stories."

"Hey, be nice. You're awake thanks to those stories."

Garrick just shook his head. "Let's go and take a look."

They stepped over the picket fence one by one and eased up to the hard candy window.

Berin peered in the window, snorted and pulled back. "I don't think there's a threat," he reported, fighting back a grin. "Two people inside and they're… occupied. She's pretty."

Savin poked a nose over the windowsill and looked for himself. A blush slowly spread up his face to the roots of his ginger hair. "Is he…? Oh my gods he is, he's…"

Garrick pulled him back by the scruff of the neck. "If you're blushing that badly, it's nothing you should be watching."

Lester looked in from the side. "Yeah, that's the boss for you. He's an inventive son of a bitch. And nobody you want to cross. Trust me, you don't want him to catch you watching. I suggest we withdraw."

"I don't think he's going to," Berin murmured, trying to look innocent and failing when Garrick gave him a sharp look.

"We're leaving," Garrick said firmly. "We'll come back tomorrow."

"Yeah," Lester said. "We ought to make sure everything's okay though."

"He looked more than okay to me," Berin said.

This time Garrick added a pointed finger to his glare.

Lester snorted. "He'll know we're here by now. I'd better report. Stay here."

He walked round to the door and rapped on it twice. "Ah, boss?" he said. "Just reporting in. Is the threat dealt with?"

"Yes." Ranger's voice filtered through the door. "Everything's fine. You can stand down."

"Received and understood, boss. See you in the morning. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Go away, Lester," Stephanie's voice yelled.

Lester grinned and waved the warband away from the house. They left, Berin sneaking one more look through the window first.

* * *

Tank was sitting up and looking a little better when they got back.

Morelli and Edna, Lula and Gareth had joined them at some point, and Edna was brewing coffee over a small fire.

"Everything okay?" Tank croaked as Lula dabbed paste on his throat.

"Yep," Lester said. "Believe it or not, the boss and Steph are here, in a gingerbread house about a mile into the woods. Looks like they've taken care of Ash themselves, because they're back to their normal selves and fucking like bunnies. We'll see them in the morning, unless they're still making up for lost time."

Tank winced and pointed to the children, but they were busy watching the warband and showed no sign of having heard.

Morelli, on the other hand, looked puzzled. "What do you mean making up for lost time?"

"Didn't you know? Ranger's puppet body didn't have a…" Lester spotted Tank's frantic throat-cutting motions too late, "…dick."

Morelli barked with laughter. "You mean he's been dickless all this time? He finally stole my girlfriend and he couldn't do anything once he had her? That's absolutely priceless." He laughed until his shoulders shook. "That's perfect. Damn, what a punishment." He got up and walked away, still chuckling.

Tank glared at Lester. "Way to open your big fat mouth, Santos. I'll send flowers to your funeral."

"He wouldn't say anything to him would he?"

Tank shrugged. "After what you just told him, would you be pulling your punches?"

"Shit." Lester sprang up and ran after Morelli. "Yo, Morelli, wait up."

* * *

The little house basked in brilliant sunshine when they returned the next day.

"I don't believe it," Tank muttered as they approached.

"They say seein' is believin' but I'm gonna have to run with taste on this here occasion. Edna, you coming to see our girl?" Lula hurried away from the group towards the house without waiting to find out.

Edna ran to catch up, joining her when she came to an abrupt halt at the corner of the house. "What's the matter?" she asked Lula before following her gaze. She grinned. "That's my girl."

Two figures were on the grass. The man wore a tiny loincloth made of braided felt in the same mocha latte color as his skin and his hair was slicked back off his face with white paste. He sat motionless on the ground with his eyes closed as the woman finger-painted elaborate swirls and geometric shapes on his torso. She wore a dangerously small bikini in the same pale cream as her own skin and her body and hair were similarly decorated.

Edna looked over the strange ritual and felt new knowledge prickle through her veins, except it felt like something she had always been on the edge of knowing; The moment when the penny finally dropped. She took the last step into full awareness.

Ranger opened his eyes and met Edna's. "Babe," he said. "Company."

"What?" Stephanie looked up from her finger-painting. "Grandma!"

She jumped up and threw herself into Edna's arms. "You're okay. Thank God."

"Hi sweetie. And you're not doing so badly either I see."

A blush spread across Stephanie's face and neck and Edna smiled and shook her head. "Don't be embarrassed. You just helped me work out how to get home. I'll tell you later."

"I can't wait to hear this," Lula said and Stephanie swung to hug her too.

"I'm so glad to see you."

"Me too girlfriend, but there's a bunch of guys right behind us. You wanna ditch the hot cavegirl costume and get dressed quick?"

"I can't. This is all I've got."

Ranger got up and walked past them, pulling Stephanie towards him and pressing a kiss into her hair as he passed. "Wait here."

Once he was safely out of sight Lula whistled. "Dayam. If he wants to stay like that, I ain't complainin'. Holy shit, I gotta hot flash."

Stephanie looked at Edna. "What, no comments?"

"Not this time. Is he the one?"

Stephanie nodded.

"Good. That will help."

Stephanie's eyes narrowed. "Help what?"

"Help us get home."

"How?"

"Later, I promise."

Ranger came back around the corner with a strip of blanket tied round his waist. He passed the rest of the blanket to Stephanie. "All we have right now. You gonna be okay?"

"I'll do my best."

Lula held her hand out for the blanket. "Give me that. I know how to do togas."

"You do?"

"Trust me, every good hooker know how to dress for the occasion."

"Thanks."

"And then you can give me a guided tour around your dream home. I'm so hungry I could eat a house."

"You've got it."

Lula wrapped Stephanie in her makeshift toga and stepped back. "Reckon you're okay now. Time to meet my boys."

"Your boys?"

"We got us some help along the way. Hardly none of them old enough to shave, but they good boys. I don't know what Morelli told 'em but they look at me like I'm some kind of superwoman."

"Joe? Joe's here? He's okay?"

"He's here. He's fine."

Stephanie's face fell. "I don't think I can face him."

"Of course you can," Edna interrupted. "Look at me."

Stephanie did.

"It's time to grow up, Stephanie. He's a good boy. A good man. He's here because he'd never let anything bad happen to you, and he deserves better than you hiding from him. Find some backbone and get out there."

"Okay," she said reluctantly.

"You'll find that some things have changed anyway."

"He's found someone else?"

"In a way."

"You've changed too."

"More than you know. It's been a strange few months. Now come on." Edna took Stephanie's hand and led her around the corner.

Joe waited with the warband behind him, Hans at his side and Greta clinging around his neck. Edna stepped back and left her to it.

Stephanie stood, jaw hanging. "Holy cow. Joe?"

"Steph. You look good."

"So do you. Damn, leather suits you."

He smiled and held his free arm out.

Stephanie walked into it and hugged him tightly. Greta mewed a complaint and clung on, defending her position.

"You look beautiful," Morelli said. He sniffed. "What is this stuff in your hair? Cream?"

"Yeah. I'm so sorry for everything that's happened."

"Hey. My Grandma did the damage, not you. I would have settled for a normal fight. It's good to see you're okay."

"Ranger and I…"

"Yeah, I figured. Don't worry about it, Cupcake."

"Thanks. That means a lot."

Lula came round the corner with a cookie in one hand and a chunk of cake in the other. "Hey, did you know that the roof is made of cookies? This stuff is fabulous. Oh my Lord, I missed cake so bad I can't tell you."

Edna held her arms out to Greta. "Want to come and get some cake?"

Greta glared at Stephanie before letting Edna take her and Hans off to find cake.

Both children were plastered with frosting and chocolate when Morelli came into the cottage and joined them.

"Everything okay?" Edna asked.

"I guess." He sat on the edge of the sheet cake bed. "It just feels strange that it's over. Tank and Lula went off into the woods together with a bunch of cake and stuff. Ranger's hovering over Steph and trying to turn the boys to stone every time they look at her, which is every chance they get, and I'm just hanging around waiting for something to happen."

Greta got up and pulled a piece of cake out of the wall and pushed it into his mouth.

"Thank you, honey," he said around the huge, sugar-laden mouthful. "You like it?"

She gave him a beatific smile and pulled another piece out for herself.

"Don't eat too much or you'll be sick," he warned.

Edna snorted. "It's going to happen. Sometimes they have to learn the hard way."

"Yeah, I guess. Garrick is talking about riding out to find the girl in the tower. I gave him directions."

"Good."

"We need to think about how to get home, I guess."

"You don't sound so sure."

"Can't have the happy ever after till everybody's home safe, right?"

"I can get us home. I know how."

Morelli looked at her, startled. "Since when?"

"Just since today. I found the last piece in the puzzle. My puzzle."

"I can believe it. You're different here."

"I found what I was missing. What I didn't know I knew."

"Because you're a…" He made sure Hans and Greta were looking the other way and mouthed the word 'witch'.

"You worked it out?"

He laughed and tapped his temple. "Detective. Trained powers of observation. You have power, or something. But different from _her_."

"Very," she answered. "Hans, why don't you take your sister and get her a drink of water before she makes herself sick?"

Hans nodded and took Greta out into the sunshine.

"Let me guess," Morelli said watching her face. "Sex."

Edna grinned. "Among other things."

"Makes sense. Nobody's _that_ horny in their golden years. You're a legend in Trenton. You start locking girls up in towers, though, and I'm coming after you."

"No towers, I promise. You could call it my speciality. And it's going to give us the power to break out and go home."

"Yeah, home."

"Go find the children, Joseph, and think about what you want. I can take you back. You can't be kept here against your will."

He changed the subject abruptly, and she had the feeling this time it was what he really needed to talk about.

"Do you think he's right for her?"

"She thinks so."

"I just don't trust him. Does he even love her, or did he just decide he wanted her?"

"There's all kinds of love. Some just keep you going until you're ready for the next kind."

"I hope you're right."

"She'll be all right, Joseph. Make your decision for yourself. Nobody else can."


	28. Chapter 28

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing._

_I have fussed and fretted over this chapter, worried that it's too strong compared to the rest of the story. I've chopped it and changed it and I invariably come back to the fact that this is how it is in my head. So for better or for worse, that's what I'm posting and this chapter contains a warning for more sexual content than the rest of the story. At least now it's actually earned its M rating._

Shadow Puppets 

Chapter 28

Edna found Stephanie sitting with Lula leaning against the wall of the cottage in the sun. "Where's Ranger?" she asked.

"Off somewhere debriefing Tank and Lester," Stephanie said. "Why?"

"Because I need to talk to the two of you about getting us home. You'll be involved."

"How?"

"I'm going to use you as a vessel for the power to break out through the barrier."

Stephanie looked confused. "What barrier?"

"We already tried to get home," Lula said. "We just got turned around every time. That's how Edna and me ended up along for the ride."

"You mean we're trapped here?" Stephanie's voice was sharp with alarm.

"Not if you help me," Edna said. "But you need to be willing."

"Of course I'm willing. Why would I not be willing?"

"Because I haven't said what you'd have to do yet."

"Then I think you'd better tell me."

Edna did.

Stephanie shook her head. "Oh no. No no no. I can't do that. I can't believe you're asking me. You're my grandma. You're supposed to be normal, and bake cookies and try to find a nice Catholic boy for me to marry."

"You found one, and do you want to go home or not?"

"I'll do it," Lula interrupted. "It'd be easier for me. I'm used to this kind of shit."

Edna shook her head. "I'm sorry. If I could use you I would, Lula. I know what I'm asking. But Stephanie's a relative. She shares my blood. It's my first time and she's my best chance of getting it right."

"This is wrong," Lula said.

"If we don't do it, we have to travel this place for as long as it takes trying to find another way. I swear, nobody will remember anything but me. It will be like it never happened."

"Are you absolutely sure of that?" Stephanie asked. "Nobody?"

"I promise."

"If you told Mom I'd never talk to you again."

"Do you think she'd be any happier with me? I'd be in a retirement home for the demented inside of a week, if your father didn't shoot me first."

"If I agree to do this," Stephanie said in a shaky voice, "there's no guarantee that Ranger will say yes too."

"Trust me, girl," Lula said, "he's a guy. That kind of shit don't bother guys at all. He ain't gonna mind."

Stephanie dropped her head down onto her knees and wrapped her arms around her head. "Oh God, what am I doing?" she said in a muffled voice. "Where shall we do it?"

"Out here in the forest where it's private," Edna said.

"Joe can't be there. I don't care if nobody remembers."

Lula got up. "No problem. I'll tell Joe to take the kids down to the village and stay there tonight. Is tonight too soon?"

"No, we can be ready," Edna answered. "Tell Garrick to go too. They have things to talk about. Stephanie, help me find Ranger and talk to him, then we have herbs we need to find."

* * *

The firelight flickered on the surface of the dark liquid in the bowl as Stephanie looked into it. "I'm still going to be able to go to church after this, right? I'm not damned, or cursed or anything?"

"No gods, no demons," Edna assured her, "just people. We're collecting the power of what you're feeling and passing it to me to borrow. I'm going to collect it all up and use it to take us home." And I don't know what God is going to think of me for doing it, but I'm going to do it anyway so that I can bring you all home safely.

Stephanie nodded and drained the bowl before shrugging off the blanket that covered her naked body and laying on her front on the ground. "I'm ready."

Edna picked up the bowl of softened chocolate that sat by the fire and dipped her finger in. She put it to Stephanie's newly washed skin and started painting on different, older designs.

By the time she had covered her back and started on the front, the herbs were working. Stephanie's eyes were glazed and she writhed and sighed at the touch of the air. The firelight turned her skin to pale gold and the symbols shifted and turned with her movements.

A croon reached Edna's ears and she looked up. The rest of the group were circled around them, lit by the fire. Lula was there, eyes glazed and hungry. Lester and Tank flanked her, leaning forward watching the painting, watching Stephanie's restless movements as she lay on the ground by the fire. The warband made up the rest of the circle, all similarly stripped to the waist to expose the symbols, livid against pale skin, that she had painted on them earlier as they drank from their bowls.

The croon grew into a chant, a deep voice growling and a providing a rhythm that the rest quickly followed. Lester started banging his hands against a hollow log in sharp counterpoint to the watchers' wordless chant as they watched Stephanie writhe in the middle of the circle and push her breasts towards the sky.

A long shadow fell across her as someone stepped between her and the fire, naked as she. She looked up into Ranger's face and undulated restlessly beneath his gaze, spreading her legs before him.

He caught Edna's eye and held it. She wasn't the only one aware then. He had drained the bowl as she had painted him, but he was fighting it every step of the way. His eyes promised a reckoning for this tomorrow.

His face softened again as he looked down at his lover and saw her pleading for his touch. He crouched down over her and trailed a finger softly down her cheek, combed back the hair that tangled across her face.

Edna felt suddenly ashamed that she'd brought this private affection out before a circle of eyes and stripped it bare for the world to see, to use as a source of power. They'd both agreed, but she wasn't sure she'd ever forgive herself for the way her granddaughter was writhing helplessly in the light of flames, driven by the potion she'd prepared for her so that she could ignore everything but the presence of the man crouched above her.

But it was too late now.

The chant grew in volume as Ranger laid himself down over Stephanie and found her lips, kissed her as though they were alone and not in the middle of the circle.

She sighed and arched beneath him and tried to pull him closer.

He gently loosened her grip on his shoulders and pushed her back down as he worked his mouth down her body to her center and stopped there, worshiping her until her cries rose above the chant and the drum.

The trickle of power that had been flowing into Edna became a flood that burned her body. She could discern the source of the flows in a way that wasn't quite any of her senses but borrowed from all of them. Stephanie's sweet and heady, the boys' thinner, drier, like young wine. Stephanie's flow grew until it roared in her ears and threatened to overwhelm her. Two more grew, dancing and twining together. Tank and Lula had broken away to conduct a rite of their own.

She felt it when Ranger entered Stephanie. His own flow of power grew to join the flood, musky and rich. She wound the two flows together and fed them back to the two lovers, felt it returned a hundredfold in an ocean wave of power that she had to fight to control, trying to float on top of it, weaving the colors together like white light into a coherent whole that would do her bidding.

She was so lost in the fight that she was only dimly aware of the flow of power peaking and tailing off. The lights in her mind's eye winked out one by one as the participants slept.

Her borrowed power settled around her like a cocoon of warm water. One with the potential to rise up over her face and drown her if she wasn't careful.

She opened her eyes and realized that she was flat on the floor too, like the rest of them. She'd fallen back and never even noticed. She stood up, wobbling slightly, and went looking for blankets to cover them.

Ranger was curled possessively around Stephanie, for all the world like a human blanket. She laid one over the two of them anyway.

Finally, when everyone was covered, she wrapped herself in a blanket of her own and sat down by the fire to try to stop the top of her head unscrewing and floating off into the night sky.

* * *

She woke to find Ranger squatting in front of her waiting for her to become aware of his presence. He was still naked and covered with the symbols that she had painted on his skin the night before. His presence was intimidating in a way that Tank's and Lester's never had been, even though they were the same size or bigger.

"Do you have enough power?" he asked in a low voice.

The borrowed power enveloped her like warm honey. She nodded.

"That never happens again," he said quietly. "Not to her. I don't ever want to see her like that again. Do you understand?"

She nodded again, trying to stop the power rising up and taking charge. He had no idea how much danger he was in.

"Good. Now do what you have to do and let's go home." He rose and walked over to where Stephanie slept by the ashes of the fire. He scooped her up in the blanket and carried her into the gingerbread house.

Edna breathed again. There was no chance that she was trying this again, with Stephanie or anyone else. She was poised on a rope over a chasm and she suddenly understood Ash a lot more than she really wanted to. The power sang in her blood and enticed her to use it. Better to go home and go back to being a crazy old lady with nothing to worry about but driving her family nuts than be like this forever. She hoped that the knowledge she had now wouldn't cross back with her. The temptation would be unbearable.

The rest of the sleepers were beginning to stir as Morelli and Garrick walked into the clearing. Garrick toed the warband up with the edge of his boot, one by one. "Up you get, ladies. We ride out in an hour. Look sharp or my new second will find some water to help you up."

Edna raised his eyebrows at Morelli and he smiled sadly. "I'm not coming back with you. Garrick's offered me a place in the warband. We ride out to find the girl in the tower today."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded and shifted a bundle in his hands. "I found some clothes in the village for Steph." He read the look on her face and grinned. "And yes, I even brought some for him too."

"You're a good boy, Joseph. I always did like you."

He winked. "Shh. Don't go ruining my reputation. Just do me a favor and pinch his ass or something at least once before you get home to Trenton. I don't want him having everything his own way."

"I will."

"And look suitably impressed when you see Greta's new pony. She's dying to show it off to you and Lula before you go. Hans looks like a sparrow on a mountain on his, but you can't laugh. Garrick swears he'll have grown into it in a year or two."

"Spoiling your new children already?"

"Are you kidding? It was the only way I was going to get to keep my own horse."

"Every Prince Charming should have his own horse. You know, you look happier already."

"It's going to be good. It feels right. And I'll find a way to see you all again."

"Good luck."

"I'd better go say the rest of my goodbyes. You take care of yourself Grandma." He picked her up in a bear hug and planted a kiss on her cheek before walking away.

A few minutes later Lula joined her, sitting on the ground beside her and watching the warband packing up and saddling horses. "Did it work?"

"It did. We're going home. Do you remember anything?"

"Not a damn thing from when I drank that stuff you gave me to when I woke up. Just tell me our girl's okay."

"She's fine. Everybody's fine. It's over."

"It better be. I know it had to happen, but it was one hell of a thing to have to do."

"I know. And now I've done it once, I don't plan on doing it ever again." She didn't tell her why. Fear in the others' eyes would do nothing to help her deal with the lure of power. She held out a wrinkled hand. "I feel like if I stand up on my own I might float away. Help me get up and get packed?"

* * *

Morelli leaned on his saddle with the rest of the warband and watched his friends clustered together behind Edna as she sat on the ground in the archway. The vines still showed evidence of the battle that had almost killed Tank. Tank was clearly leaving a safe distance between himself and them just in case.

"Last chance," Garrick said to him as the air in the archway shimmered and distorted like the heat haze above a fire.

Morelli shook his head. "No. We have a kid in a tower to rescue."

Edna stood and walked into the shimmer. Morelli thought he saw a different forest on the other side, the swamp that they had cut their way through what seemed like a lifetime ago. Tank followed her through holding Lula's hand. Lester hesitated, looked around as though he was searching for something before finally stepping through after them.

Finally, just Ranger and Stephanie were left, Stephanie holding up the hem of her overlong dress as she walked, Ranger with his arm around her, solicitous. Possessive. She stopped and looked back at Morelli before crossing through, caught sight of him and waved. He waved back and she stepped through and was gone.

"Good looking woman," Garrick observed.

"Yeah. She has something."

"And you did all this for her even though she's with another man?"

"Pretty much. She's worth it. And it's been the best time of my life."

"Is your world really that bad?"

"No. Some of it is wonderful. But not what I was going back to. A job trying to stop a bunch of vermin from doing the world a favor and killing each other. Watching him help my girlfriend find her inner savage. Listening to my grandmother go on about finding a nice Italian girl to continue the Morelli family name. No, I think I'm going to find my happy ever after here."

The shimmer gradually faded away until there was no evidence that it had ever been there.

"You know," Garrick said, "Belle was hoping you'd come back to the village and see her before you left. She likes you."

"And you're okay with that?"

"I think you should have run back to your world as fast as you could when you had the chance. Her father was past thirty when her mother took a liking to him and it made no difference. Poor bastard never stood a chance."

Morelli snorted. "And you just had to wait until the gate closed to tell me that, didn't you?"

Garrick roared with laughter. "Never mind. I'm sure you'll think of something." He raised his arm above his head and pointed towards the horizon. "Let's move out."


	29. Chapter 29

_Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing._

Shadow Puppets 

Epilogue

Edna walked out of Trenton airport arrivals lounge and looked around for Stephanie. She found Lester instead.

He met her eyes and she smelled the fresh green of summer leaves in the middle of the crowded airport, and knew that the forest would never be out of their lives completely. She wheeled her baggage cart over to him and stopped. "Where's Stephanie? Is she okay?"

"She's fine. Sends her love and says she'll see you at dinner unless Ranger shoots his own foot to get out of it." Lester lifted her case from the cart and started walking towards the parking lot. "So how was Wisconsin?"

"Cold. But worth it."

"Oh?"

Edna smiled and held her left hand out. "Remember Terry? Still a live one."

Lester whistled. "Nice. So he's making an honest woman out of you? Guess you'll beat your granddaughter to the altar then."

"Bob could beat her to the altar. Those two won't get married until their families stop pushing. Maybe they'll work that out eventually."

Lester loaded her case into the SUV and they got in.

Edna turned to watch Lester as he backed the car out of the parking space. "What are you really doing here, Lester? Stephanie told me not six hours ago that she was picking me up from the airport."

He didn't look at her as he concentrated on driving. "I need your help."

"How?"

"I want to go back."

Edna didn't need to ask where. "Have you tried?"

"Four times in the last year. Three the year before. I can't find it. Maybe it let us in last time."

"But why?" Edna thought she knew the answer. She asked anyway.

"I can't do what I did before. Not any more."

"You haven't still got _that_ problem?"

He flicked a startled glance sideways. "How did you….? Never mind. No. I just can't get her out of my head. It all feels empty now. And I want to find Morelli, make sure he's okay. His family would want it."

"Bella took it hard, him staying behind." Edna stared out of the window for a long moment. "I haven't done anything like this since bringing us home."

In fact, she'd done the opposite. Walked away. Tried to go back to being a crazy old lady and forget the feel of the power pulsing in her veins.

"But will you try?"

"I'll try."

* * *

Morwen stormed out of the back door of the lodge with Snow's latest insult still ringing in her ears. She spun and slammed the door back against the frame hard enough to crack the daub around it, then leaned her forehead against it, closed her eyes and swallowed back the lump in her throat that threatened to become tears.

A roughened hand covered her mouth and pulled her back against the wall of the lodge.

"Shhh," a male voice breathed in her ear.

Her heart slammed against her ribs with terror as a pair of hands held her firmly, preventing her escape. They loosened when she didn't offer any resistance.

"My husband will hunt you down and kill you," she said, trying to stop her voice from shaking.

"Time to run then." Her kidnapper moved into view.

He was dangerously handsome, with dark hair and a scar slicing through one eyebrow. Tattooed wings showed on his chest at the edges of his leather jerkin. Blue thorns twined up both his forearms. A few days' beard growth darkened his jaw.

He pulled her stumbling toward the cover of the forest where a blonde teenager sat astride a roan horse holding the reins of a shaggy gray. As they approached he threw the gray's reins to the dark-haired man.

She recognized the horse. "I know you."

Morelli grinned and spoke into a small object that he held in his hand. "I've got her. Move out." He vaulted into the saddle in one fluid movement and reached down to pull her up in front of him.

The two horses wheeled and took off in a wild flight away from the lodge and into the forest.

Over the pounding hoofbeats, Morelli leaned forward and shouted in her ear, "I have a friend who's spent a long time trying to find you. He says you have unfinished business."

Her heart stopped. "Why didn't he come himself?"

"Because Lester is good at many things, but he can't ride worth a damn. When you see Trenton you'll understand."

Morwen threw her head back and laughed wildly. The wind from the horses' flight whipped the sound from her mouth and carried it away, back towards the lodge.

THE END

_A/N… and there I plan to leave them. I struggle with the concept of happy ever afters. When do you draw a line under a life and say everything after that was wonderful and they all lived happily ever after. I've chosen to leave them with adventures in their future and their own demons to face. There are hints scattered here and there if you look for them. The truth is that as I wrote this story, like Morelli I fell in love with the forest and its people and decided to stay there. The future in Trenton will have to stay in people's imaginations for now. Edna's battle not to follow in Ash's footsteps and Lester's quest to find Morwen again would probably make stories all of their own._

_Thank you to Mud the marvellous muse and my amazing betas Harmne and Dee. They always gave great advice, even if I decided to do something different a lot of the time. All yawning plot holes, dangling threads and other mistakes are down to me, not them._

_Thank you to the wonderful JE for not complaining when we play with her characters. Most of the characters you recognise are hers. Others have their origins in earlier tales but I don't think the Brothers Grimm would recognise them so I regard them as my own. I've grown very attached to Morwen. Maybe she'll have her own story one day. Unfortunately for them, Garrick and the boys are all mine, leather-clad toys for my future amusement. Poor, poor boys. They might enjoy it. We'll see._

_Thank you for coming along for the ride__._

_Rosa_


End file.
